Teach Me How to Love
by mogi93
Summary: "I still believe in you, Sherlock Holmes, and I always will" John said. "Will you do this miracle for me, then? Don't be dead. Come back, help us find Molly because I'm not going to do this again, I'm not going to bury one of the last friend I've got". Rated T for future chapters. Set one year after the Fall. Sherlock/Molly
1. Coping with the Memories

_Hello there you awesome reader!_  
_This is my veeeery first Sherlolly fanfiction! I had this idea in my mind for quite a while and finally decided to write it down. _  
_I just love these two together and couldn't wait to write something about them :D It focuses more on Molly's life, I love her character so much! And she's much easier to write :P  
_

_Enjoy it and let me know what you think ;D_

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own Sherlock or Molly or John or the show. Wish I did though!  
__**A/N:** I apologize for my grammar, sadly english is not my first language!_  


* * *

It was windy up there and he enjoyed the natural sound of the city; not too loud, not too quiet, just frenetically normal. Sherlock was sitting on the ground, legs crossed, hands together with the tip of his fingers brushing his lips. He was thinking and he liked that place. People didn't like roofs that much in London, not anymore. He still did.  
The door that led him there carefully opened and he recognized her steps.

"Sherlock?" Molly Hooper asked. She embraced herself, thinking it was too windy for her. After all, she was just in her pyjama. "Are you okay?".

"I'm fine. Just thinking" he replied, his eyes closed. He heard her sigh with relief, even if she tried to hide it.

"I'm not going to jump, Molly" he added.

"I know, it's just…" she smiled awkwardly. "…aren't you afraid people might see you up here? It's the rooftop, after all".

"People don't look at roofs" he answered. Molly lowered her head and warmed her arm up.

"I do" she said. Sherlock opened his eyes but did not move and listened carefully as she continued her speech. "Ever since…that day, I keep looking up at rooftops. Whenever I'm walking outside I look up and expect to find you up there, looking down". Molly saw no reactions from Sherlock and sighed, knowing he just listened to be polite. She knew she wasn't enough to catch his attention and so she tried something else.

"John too, you know. He told me that sometimes he looks up and sees you there, on the roof, and wishes he could stop you from jumping" she said. Sherlock straightened up his position but said nothing; he didn't know what Molly wanted to hear and he had no words of his own to say.

"I'll be downstairs, if you need anything" she quickly said and disappeared. Sherlock sighed and settled his mind back to his mind palace.

Half an hour later he decided to go downstairs as the wind became higher. He waited until he heard no sound before walking down the stairs and right into Molly's apartment. He was about to open the door when he heard Molly talking.

"Next week? Oh, okay. Yeah, that's fine. You know I'm fine" she said. She was clearly on the phone but he still waited before entering the apartment. "I know you do but I'm fine, really. Okay, bye, love you too". She hung up and Sherlock quickly entered the room.

"Oh, hi" she said taking Toby in her arms.

"Someone phoned?" Sherlock asked.

"Yeah, my sister. She's coming to London next week, she wants to drop by" she answered getting up. "Don't worry, I'll meet her somewhere in London, she's not coming here" she added as she saw Sherlock raise his eyebrow.

"I'm the one who should leave, this is your apartment" he said. Molly gave him a weak smile.

"Yeah, well, goodnight Sherlock" she said disappearing into her bedroom. Sherlock stared at the door for quite a while and snapped back to reality when it opened again. Toby bolted away and Molly closed her door again.

He sat on the couch and watched as the cat ran around the room chasing a little piece of paper. Molly had managed to get him a bed he could open whenever he wanted. Her apartment was small, she didn't have a guest room and he rarely slept, she offered him her bed but he refused. She had to work and had to have an healthy sleep and he kept telling her that he almost never slept and agreed for an extra bed to open whenever he wanted to sleep at night. It was still in the corner, he opened it a couple of times in the last year. He liked the couch better and when Molly was out, he found himself sleeping in her bed. He was aware of the fact that Molly knew that he slept in her bed but she never complained. It happened a few times that he slipped into her bed during the night, when she had the flu. She was delirious, he only stayed because she was miserable and needed help. Toby started to dance between his legs and he smiled.

"Good thing I'm not allergic to you" he said. Toby meowed and Sherlock laid on the couch, crossing his hands, thinking again.

It was almost 1 a.m. when Toby started to whine in front of Molly's door. Sherlock tried to ignore him but his laments became louder and he didn't want Molly to wake up. He needed quietness. He stood up, took the cat in his arms and carefully opened the door. Molly was fast asleep flat on her stomach, hugging her pillow. Sherlock silently walked in and put Toby next to her but the cat jumped off and hid under the bed, waking Molly up. _Stupid cat,_ Sherlock thought.

"What…Sherlock? What are you doing here? Something happened?" Molly asked sitting up, rubbing her eyes.

"I didn't mean to wake you up. Toby was complaining that he was not allowed to come in and I thought I would let him in before he woke the entire neighbourhood up. Nothing happened" he explained. Molly let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh good. This cat is moodier than me" she said looking down, smiling at the sound of the cat playing with something that was probably her sock. She turned around and saw that Sherlock was still standing there, his hands opening every now and then.

"Are you okay?" she asked, even if she knew Sherlock didn't like that question.

"I'm fine" he quickly answered.

"Okay" she said.

"Goodnight" he said before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him. Molly laid back down and turned around, her back on the door. Her smile shook when she heard the door open again. Sherlock slipped under the covers and gently wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to his chest. Molly put her hands on his strong but gentle arms and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and stopped her mouth from asking questions. She fell asleep in his arms, her mind full of thoughts of him.

* * *

Her alarm clock rang at the usual time and she automatically turned it off. She stirred and felt the cold air hit her back. She turned around and rested her hand on the spare space next to her, gripping the sheets. Sherlock had left early in the morning and she got up, setting her mind back to reality. Even if last night she thought, for a brief moment, that Sherlock might have felt something for her, she didn't think that now. Sherlock didn't feel. She deleted all her thoughts of last night and got ready for work. In the kitchen she found a note. He always left notes.

_Following some tracks – SH_

She laughed, throwing the note in the bin. She was glad he took the habit to warn her when he went away. The first two months he disappeared quite often and she always panicked until she found herself shouting at him when he came back. He promised to warn her when he was leaving and she sighed, thankful. He didn't apologize, though, but she was used to it.

She kissed Toby goodbye and locked her apartment. She was early and decided to walk instead of taking a cab. She turned the corner and bumped into someone. She almost fell but the person she bumped into grabbed her by the arm and kept her steady.

"I'm so sorry-Molly!" John said. Molly blinked and then smiled.

"Oh, John, hi" she said.

"How...how are you?" he asked.

"I'm good, thanks. How are you?" she asked. They hadn't seen each other very often the first months but then John found Molly's presence quite comforting, finding in her a good friend whom he could share his feelings with. Since then, they talked regularly and Molly often went to Baker Street to spend the afternoon with him.

"I'm...okay" he said, giving her a sad smile. "It doesn't seem right to live in that apartment but I find it rather hard to live somewhere else".

"I'm sure it'll get better" she said. John decided to stay in 221B, even if for the first month after Sherlock's death he stayed at Mike's.

"Yeah" he replied.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" she asked. Her block was no way near his and if she recalled well, he did not have friends there, apart from her.

"Actually...I was coming to see you" he replied. "I know you have to work, I just wanted to see you and ask you...something".

"What is it?" she asked. They started walking and John had his hands in his pockets.

"I was wondering if you could come with me, tomorrow" he asked. Molly nodded and sighed, remembering the date.

"Of course. I'll be there, John" she said, taking his hand. He smiled; he always appreciated the way she made him comfortable and how she comforted him.

"Thank you" he said.

"Anytime, John" she replied. He did not let go of her hand and they walked hand in hand until they reached Bart's.

"Thanks for walking me here" she said, smiling. He returned the smile and his eyes flew on the rooftop.

"I still see him" he almost whispered. She followed his eyes and sighed, wishing she could just sweep his pain away.

"Me too" she simply said. He quickly let go of her hand and looked on the ground.

"I'm sorry...I hope it didn't make you feel uncomfortable" he said, pointing to their hands.

"No of course not" she replied. "It's good to feel your friends close".

"Thank you" he said. He bid her farewell and she entered, heading towards her morgue.

That night, Sherlock did not come home and she guessed this new track was going to keep him busy for a few days. She fell asleep, her mind thinking about tomorrow.

* * *

She patiently waited for her shift to end. She asked her boss if she could have the rest of the day off and Stamford offered to do the rest of her autopsies. She thanked him and went back home, getting ready.

It was 2:45 p.m. and she was waiting for John and Mrs. Hudson in front of the main door at Baker Street. Molly felt a bit uncomfortable. It was the 14th of June, Sherlock's death anniversary. They were going to the cemetery and Molly felt out of place, knowing Sherlock was very much alive and having him as a guest in her apartment. When John and Mrs. Hudson arrived, they took the cab and went to the cemetery.

In front of his grave, Molly's guilt grew bigger. She knew she wasn't facing his tomb but she used her guilt to show a bit of sadness, pretending she missed him.

"Sometimes I hear his voice yelling at me to get something for him" Mrs. Hudson said. "And I still ignore him". John laughed.

"He hasn't changed, not even when he's dead" John said. Molly chuckled and wiped away a tear, thinking that Sherlock really had not changed. After remembering him, Mrs. Hudson patted John's back.

"We'll leave you" she said, heading away. Molly squeezed his hand but he gripped her.

"No. Stay" he asked. She was quite surprised but turned around and stood next to him. She knew he always needed some space for himself, a time to share with Sherlock.

"I still believe in him" he said, taking her hand.

"So do I" she quickly answered. "Always have and always will". John smiled.

"I'm still waiting for him to cross that door and tell me to get ready because we're going away to solve a case. I'm still waiting for him to return. I wish...I wish..." he said, tears now running down his face.

"I know, John" she said, resting her head on his shoulder.

"How are you coping with this?" he suddenly asked. Molly turned her head and faced his eyes. "You're doing pretty fine. I'm miserable. You...you cared for him, had feelings for him, how are you coping with him being gone?". Molly opened her mouth but did not answer. She had answered that question many times but this time, she didn't know what to say.

"I...I just..." she tried and bit her lip. "I remember him. I keep his memory in my head and sometimes this memory takes over and makes me feel his presence beside me. I keep him alive in my mind and in my heart".

"Keeping him inside is just tearing me apart" he answered. "But I can't let him go".

"Don't. Don't let him go. You'll learn how to keep him inside without him being a burden for your heart" she replied, squeezing his hand again. John smiled and nodded.

"It's not the first time for you, is it?" he asked. "Keeping someone inside".

"No" she replied, a sad smile on her face. "My dad's in here, too. I learned how to keep people inside when he died. It gets better". He hugged her and for a few minutes they just stared at Sherlock's grave, without saying a word. They left hand in hand, going back home. Molly spent the afternoon with them, Lestrade joining them and once again, they remembered Sherlock.

* * *

_I hope Sherlock is not too OOC, he's very difficult to write!  
Thank you for reading and I do hope this story is good enough for you to keep reading it :)  
_


	2. Gone Missing

_You! Yes you! Thank you for reading! :D  
Thank you for reviewing my story and thank you for following it! It means people want to know how it's going to end, hehe..  
_

_So, here's the next chapter! (I have to be honest, I have almost the entire story written down, this means I get to update very quickly! wup wup!)_

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own Sherlock or Molly or John or the show. But I do own Mr. Williams! (just read, you'll understand who he is)  
__**A/N:** I apologize for my grammar, sadly english is not my first language!_  


* * *

When she arrived home, Sherlock was lying on the couch, hands on his lips, thinking.

"Oh, you're back" she said, locking the door. Toby meowed from the kitchen and she went to feed him.

"As you can see, I am indeed" he replied, his eyes still closed. "Or would you rather not have me around tonight?". Molly turned around, confused. She fed Toby and reached Sherlock, standing in front of him.

"What do you mean?" she asked. He got up and started to pace around the room.

"I thought that maybe you wanted to spend more time with your new boyfriend" he said, giving her one of his fake smiles.

"I don't have a boyfriend" she replied.

"Mmh, I think you do or maybe not yet. I believe walking hand in hand with a man is a way to show interest in that specific person" he snapped.

"Were you following me around?" she asked.

"The track I was following led me to St. Bart's last morning, I was not following you and why on earth would I follow you?".

"The track you were following led you to St. Bart's". It wasn't a question and she didn't actually believe him.

"Yes, St. Bart's, you know, the place where I faked my death? It makes very much sense and don't change the subject, I was there and saw you arriving holding John's hand. And you seemed quite close at the cemetery today".

"So you were following me".

"Of course not, you know I always go there!". She knew. He often went to the cemetery and hid behind some tree, listening to John speaking to his grave. Sherlock quickly memorized the days and hours of his visits and so did she.

"Are you jealous?". She crossed her arms.

"Why would I be jealous of John?".

"Not John. Me. Are you jealous because I'm the one John's holding hand with?".

"Don't be ridiculous".

"I'm not stealing him away from you, you know. He's my friend, he thinks you're dead and I'm just trying to make everything better".

"I'm sure he doesn't need _you_ to make everything better! Soon enough he'll find someone who's going to fit his requests better than you and he's not going to need your presence anymore". He didn't mean to be mean but his words were like daggers in her heart.

"Just like you will". Sherlock wasn't expecting this kind of answer. "I'm just John's replacement. Since you can't have him around, you're keeping me around but you'll get back to him and he will get you back. I won't be a burden to you anymore and he's going to replace me with you, just like it should be".

"I didn't mean this" he calmly said.

"Of course you did" she answered before turning around and shutting the bedroom door behind her. Sherlock sighed and threw himself on the couch, entering his mind palace.

For five days they didn't talk to each other. Sherlock just couldn't understand why Molly didn't understand that he did not mean to hurt her and was too busy following his deductions to care about that situation. Molly on her side felt like she needed a break from his words.

She had a long day at Bart's and was glad it was over. She headed home, ready to take a shower, slip into her pyjama and watch some telly. What she found in her apartment was not what she thought she would see. Toby was lying on the floor, still. Sherlock was doing some strange experiments on her table and wasn't paying attention to some green stuff that was blobbing out of a vial.

"Sherlock!" she said, trying not to shout. Anger was clearly audible in her voice, though.

"Mmh?" he asked, his eyes fixed on his experiment. Molly kneeled down on the floor and touched her cat, jumping up immediately.

"You killed my cat!" she shouted.

"He's merely asleep" he answered.

"He's not asleep, Sherlock. He's cold and rigid and dead! You killed Toby!".

"It was an experiment, I had to test one of my new sedatives and-".

"You drugged my cat? You…you used my cat for an experiment?".

"Don't worry, he's fine. I wanted to see if this sedative was reliable and you just proved me right; it does look like he's dead hence the sedative works correctly".

"How long has he been like this?".

"A few hours, in fact, he should go back to normal soon". A few moments later, Toby stirred and meowed. Molly let out a loud breath and put a hand on her forehead.

"I told you he was fine" Sherlock said and Molly couldn't hold her anger anymore.

"You can't use Toby for your experiments, Sherlock! He's my cat, you didn't even ask for my permission!" she shouted. Sherlock looked at her without saying a word.

"And you're not even going to apologize! You know, Sherlock, it won't hurt you to say I'm sorry once in a while!" she exclaimed. She was not just referring to poisoning Toby.

"I apologized to you at the Christmas party" he pointed out.

"That was more than a year ago! And you have a lot to apologize for right now" she pointed out.

"It's not my fault if five days ago you misunderstood my words. I did not mean to hurt you" he replied, almost carelessly.

"Okay. Listen, I know it's hard for you, to stay here for most of the day and everything, to go out and be sure no one recognises you, but that doesn't give you the permission to bloody drug my cat and be okay with it! You could've killed him!" she shouted.

"But I did not" Sherlock insisted. Molly grabbed her coat again and took her keys.

"Where are you going?" Sherlock asked.

"I'm going back to Bart's and don't you dare follow me!" she said. "And don't touch my cat again!" she added slamming the door. Sherlock was rather confused and looked at the cat who was cleaning himself. He went back to his experiment and noted down on his notebook the effects of the sedative.

* * *

Molly didn't come home that night and Sherlock wasn't worried. She said she was going to Bart's again and he knew there was a little couch in her office. _She probably spent the night there_, he thought in the morning. He got bored quite often that morning, he watched TV even if he found it even more boring, he did some experiments again, ate something and watched the very much alive cat play with his toys. At some point he fed the poor animal who was whining against his legs and decided he needed some air.

He wore his usual hat and sunglasses. He hated his disguise but he had to pass unnoticed. He wore jeans, sneakers and a leather jacket. His hair were hidden under his hat and he managed to act not like himself. He wander around London and found himself facing St. Bart's doors. He hated to admit it but Molly was right. He needed to apologize. He didn't know why but she always managed to make him apologize sincerely, even if he felt uncomfortable doing so. He entered the hospital and headed towards the lab. He found the door closed and was actually surprised. Molly had to sleep somewhere and Bart's was the most reasonable place. He deleted the thought of her sleeping at Baker Street, she surely couldn't explain to John what happened.

"May I help you?" a voice said. Sherlock froze and coughed. He recognized the voice.

"Uhm, I'm Molly's friend. I dropped by to see her" he said, keeping his face low, faking a Scottish accent.

"She's not here. Today's her day off" Mike Stamford replied.

"Oh, right. I didn't know" he replied, forcing his 'r'. He did know, actually, after spending a year with her but he had forgotten what day it was.

"She should be at home anyway" he replied patting his back.

"Do you mind if I get in? I came here yesterday and forgot some papers on her desk. I was hoping to get them this morning" he asked. He really didn't like forcing accents.

"Uhm, okay. But I can leave you here for five minutes, not more" Mike replied.

"Five minutes is all I need" he replied. Stamford opened the lab and he jumped in, heading towards her office. Mike had been there. The couch still had his form on it and Sherlock almost cursed. _Evidence ruined_, he thought. He scanned the office. Her desk was tidy, there were some papers around but nothing was out of place. It looked like the office hadn't been used for more than twelve hours. He took a random white paper and bended it, putting it in his pocket. He had a strange feeling, something was out of ordinary. It looked like Molly hadn't been there.

He walked out of the lab and Stamford was waiting for him, smiling.

"Found what you were looking for?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you" he replied. Stamford locked the lab and tried to look into Sherlock's eyes.

"Have we met?" he asked. Sherlock shook his head.

"No. I'm from Scotland, I don't come here very often" he replied. Stamford nodded and let him go. Sherlock headed towards the exit but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Lestrade pacing back and forth before the doors. Sherlock laid against the wall and looked at him, carefully. He looked worried, scared almost. Sherlock's heart skipped a beat when he saw John crossing the entrance.

"Greg!" he yelled. Sherlock hid behind the wall and did his best to pass unnoticed once again. "Did you find her?".

"No, I asked the nurse and she said that today's her day off and they saw her leaving yesterday afternoon, no one saw her after then" he replied.

"Did you call her?" John asked. Both were extremely worried.

"Yes, her phone is off, we tried to track her down but there was no signal. It looks like her cell phone has no battery" Lestrade explained.

"Oh God" John said, his hand on his mouth. "Have you tried her apartment?".  
"We're going there now" he replied and both ran away. Sherlock did the maths quickly. Day off. Left yesterday afternoon. Apartment. He quickly ran out of St. Bart's and headed to Molly's apartment.

He knew he couldn't be seen in her apartment and was actually glad he put his things back in 'his' closet. There weren't many things he kept in her apartment as recognisable as his. He reached the apartment through the fire escape. He managed to hide and be close enough to the window to hear what they were saying.

"Thank you, Mr. Williams, it won't take us long" Lestrade said.

"You know, you should have a warrant to inspect her apartment" Mr. Williams said.

"We're not inspecting it, we're just looking for something. If we need to, we'll come back with a warrant. Don't worry" Lestrade said. Mr. Williams nodded, bouncing on his feet. "When did you see Molly last time?".

"I saw her coming home yesterday, around 6 p.m. But she left shortly after. She didn't come home afterwards" he replied. John got pale and bit his lip. "Has something happened to her?".

"We believe she's been murdered last night" Lestrade said. For once, Sherlock did not know what to think. He felt his mind crack, the windows of his mind palace blowing up for the too much pressure he was putting. He forced himself to keep quiet and rested his head on the wall, eyes closed. He just needed to listen.

"No, she's not dead, we're not sure that's her" John said, shaking his head. The pain in his voice made it almost impossible to delete the image of Molly's dead body in Sherlock's mind. When he opened his eyes, he heard them leaving, having found no evidence. It was pretty clear, for them, that she hadn't returned home. He heard Lestrade tell John to go with him, telling him they needed his help to identify her. _I can't make a reliable recognition, _he confessed. Sherlock followed.

It wasn't hard for him to find a place to hide, when they arrived at the crime scene. People were crowding around the dead body, the police was keeping them away with some bands. Sherlock hid between the crowd and looked at John bending over the corpse. He cried, Lestrade keeping his hand on his shoulder. He took a note from the body's pocket and got up. Lestrade took the note back. John walked away, his face hiding his true emotions. Sherlock did not follow him, he could not. He stared at the dead body before him and his eyes met the doe eyes of Molly.

His mind went black.

And she was dead.

* * *

_DUN DUN DUN DUUUUN.  
So. Yeah. Review? :D  
*throws chocolate biscuits around*  
_


	3. One Miracle, For Me?

_I know you probably just want to kill me but I want to thank you!  
Thank you for the reviews, you guys are AMAAAAZING! Reviews make me happy and happy me is good :D  
Guest, I'm so sorry my chocolate biscuits knocked you out, here, have a cup of tea! :)_

_Just one more thing. Someone on tumblr suggested me to find a beta to correct my grammar and that's what I'm doing right now, looking for a beta! I'm asking you to bear with my grammar errors until I find a beta - because even if my grammar is not good, I'm not going to stop updating :) Enjoy the new chapter!_

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own Sherlock or Molly or John or the show. But I do own the old man in this chapter.  
__**A/N:** I apologize for my grammar, sadly english is not my first language!_  


* * *

He thought he didn't care, but he did.

He thought he didn't feel alone, truth is he had never been so alone in his life.

John thought he was dead. His own brother thought he had died. The entire world thought the same. Everyone but her. And now, his only friend, his only light, was gone.

He found himself wandering around London, his hat hiding almost all his face.

He didn't actually care if people saw or recognized him, all his mind could think of was how he had managed to kill his last friend. Yes, because he felt like he had killed her. He made her ran away from her apartment, he said those horrible words, he didn't apologize. He practically killed her.

Sherlock sat down on a bench, his gaze lost in the park before him. He didn't know what was happening to him. He felt a hole inside and wondered what it was. _Loss, perhaps, _he thought. _Feelings. No. I don't feel. _But he actually did. He found himself shocked by his own thought, but, even if he solved crimes for a living, he wished he didn't have to solve this one.

At 3 o'clock he went to the cemetery. It was quiet there and he knew John would come. He was 17 minutes late when he arrived.

"Hi Sherlock" he said after a while, sniffing. "I'm sorry I'm late. Crazy morning" he said, his hands stretching out. He shook his head, quietly.

"This morning Lestrade called me telling me he needed my help. He needed my help to…identify a body" he said. "I...it was Molly. She...she's been murdered last night. Her body was near the Tames and...oh, God". He cried and sobbed for a while.

"We called her, her phone was off, we looked for her and didn't find her" John continued. "I asked for the DNA test, we're still waiting for the result but there was...a card, on the body, with her name on it. She's dead" John said, wiping away the tears. Sherlock felt reality hit his face. Someone found out about Molly. Somehow, Moriarty's men found out that he was hiding in her apartment and that he was alive. And she was dead. Because of him.

"I still believe in you, Sherlock Holmes, and I always will" John said, resting his hand on the gravestone. "Will you do this miracle for me, then? Don't be dead. Come back, help us find Molly because I'm not going to do this again. I'm not going to bury one of the last friend I've got". He waited for a few minutes, Sherlock holding his breath. John stepped back and looked around. He was in a cemetery. He was talking to a dead man. He shook his head and turned on his heel.

"Take care of her, Sherlock" he said before wandering away.

Sherlock almost jumped up, surprised, when he felt something wet run down his cheek. A tear. The same tear he had allowed to fall when he said goodbye to John. His friend asked him to take care of her. Meaning he was accepting her death. Meaning he was finally accepting _his_ death. But he was not accepting hers so quickly. He left the cemetery and something suddenly hit him: Molly was an habitual person, she had her daily routines she almost strictly followed. He started to run towards the Café she always went to on Wednesday. He didn't know why she liked that place so much, it wasn't fancy and the café was poor, but still, she went there every week. It took him a while to get there and he immediately stopped and hid behind a tree. The police was already there and Lestrade was talking with a man.

"Yes, she always comes here on Wednesday. She didn't come yesterday, though" the old man said.

"Have you noticed something out of place yesterday?" Lestrade asked.

"No. Everything was fine. Something happened?" the old man asked, a vivid Scottish accent in his words.

"I'm afraid Molly was killed last night. We were trying to find some evidence" Lestrade told the man who immediately began to cry. Sherlock wondered why Lestrade knew that place but Molly's voice echoed in his mind. _I had lunch with Lestrade today,_she said sometimes. And most of the times, it was Wednesday. He sighed and left, knowing he had just wasted time. He decided to go back to the apartment and once again, he used the fire escape to reach it. He opened the window and jumped inside. He looked around. Her books, her covers, her pens, her cat. Where would everything go? Toby meowed and walked between his legs. Sherlock looked down and felt sorry for the feline when he jumped away. A ball hit his ankle and he picked it up, his eyes fixed on it. It was just a ball.

He threw it on the wall and the ball hit a lamp, making it fall on the ground. It crashed and soon the pavement was full of pink lamp pieces.

"What the hell, Sherlock?" Molly asked, coming out from her bedroom. Sherlock turned around, his mind telling him he was hearing voices. He blinked several times before his eyes focused on Molly's body. She was in her pyjama and nightgown. His mind suddenly filled with questions and he didn't wait to ask them.

"Why is your phone off?" he asked.

"The battery died last night, I still have to put in on charge, why, what happened?" she asked, confused.

"Where were you, last night?" he asked getting closer.

"I told you, I was at Bart's, I slept there" she answered with annoyance in her voice.

"Where did you go afterwards?".

"I went for a walk, why are you asking me these questions?".

"Did you meet someone last night? Did you talk to anyone?".

"No, Sherlock, what's going on?".

"Answer me, did you meet someone?".

"No, I haven't met anyone. I haven't seen anyone either, for a matter of fact".

"Did someone menace you?".

"What? No! Sherlock, what's going on?".

"Did you receive a strange text message, an email, a letter, something that was out of ordinary?".

"No, God, no, I would've told you!".

"Did you unintentionally tell someone about me?".

"Sherlock-".

"Did you see someone following you around, at Bart's, take pictures, take n-".

"For God's sake Sherlock, stop!".

Sherlock was holding Molly by the arms, shaking her, trying to deduce her and to get more information. She was scared, he could read it in her eyes. _Her doe eyes, _he thought. He immediately let go of her and stepped back.

"What's going on?" she asked, her voice low as a whisper.

"They found a body tonight near the Tames. They think it's you" he answered, putting his hands behind his back.

"Me? They think I'm dead?" she asked incredulous. Sherlock nodded. "I'm very much alive. I haven't noticed anything that was out of place these days. Everything was fine" she said.

"You must call Lestrade and assure him you're alive. They'll probably know since the DNA won't match but it's better if you let him know first" Sherlock said.

"They're going to ask me how I found out about me being, well, dead" she pointed out.

"Then put your phone on charge, turn it on and wait for them to call you. Do it now" he said and Molly quickly did as told. It wasn't the right time to ask for manners. She picked her phone up and put the battery back in it. _That's why they couldn't track her down,_ he thought. As soon as she turned the phone on, she received text messages telling her that someone had called and after a few minutes, her phone rang.

"Hello?" she answered, trying to sound normal.

"Molly?" Lestrade asked.

"Hi Greg. How are you?" she asked.

"I'm…I'm fine. Are you okay?".

"Yeah, I'm good".

"We thought you were dead".

"What? Why? I'm alive, as you can hear".

"We found a dead body this morning, she looks a lot like you and there was your name on it. We thought…we thought it was you. Your phone was off and we looked for you everywhere. You weren't neither at St. Bart's nor at home".

"Oh, I just put my phone on charge. Today's my day off, I went for a walk. How did you get into my apartment?".

"We asked your landlord if he could open your apartment for us".

"Oh, right. Well, I'm alive, don't worry. Who's the dead woman, anyway?".

"We don't know yet, probably just someone who really looks like you. Her face is pretty much disfigured, we can't be sure. What I don't get, though, is why was your name on the body".

"Well, I might not be the only Molly Hooper in London".

"Actually, it's M. Hooper, on the note".

"Hooper is quite common in Britain. Maybe it's just a coincidence".

"Maybe. He would've known". Molly looked up at Sherlock, sighing.

"Yeah" she said looking at him straight in the eyes. "He would've known". Sherlock glared back and waited for the conversation to be over.

"John might drop by to see you himself, I should clean this mess and go to the roof until he's gone" he said, picking up the broken lamp.

"How did you find out about this situation?" Molly asked. Sherlock hesitated for a moment but then decided it was better to tell her the truth.

"I came to St. Bart's this morning. I wanted to apologize and Lestrade and John were there, talking about you. I followed them" he replied. Molly nodded and helped him. Half an hour later John ran upstairs and hugged Molly, crying in her arms, while Sherlock waited for his friend to be gone.

Two long hours later, John took a cab and went back to Baker Street. Sherlock waited five minutes and then went downstairs.

Molly was sitting on the couch stroking Toby's head.  
"I'm sorry" he said out of nothing. Molly stared at him for a while and then laughed.

"For...what?" she asked.

"For using Toby for my experiments. I shouldn't have done it" he said.

"It's okay, as long as you don't use him" she said.

"I won't, I promise you" he said and she gave him a warm smile. "And I'm sorry for what I've said a week ago. I didn't want to hurt you" he added.

"Okay, enough with the apologies. You've apologized enough today" she said and this time, Sherlock smiled warmly. Molly's face soon turned serious and he sat beside her.

"Why did they kill that woman?" she asked after a while.

"I don't know yet" he replied. It took her a few moments before asking the next question.

"Why was my name on her?" she asked, knowing and fearing the answer.

"I believe it's a clue, a clue for me. Someone of Moriarty's network must have found out I'm still alive and is leaving me clues" he answered.

"And I'm the first clue" she exclaimed.

"If they know I'm alive, they know where I'm hiding. They know what part you're playing and I think the dead woman was a warning: you're next. They're going to kill the people I care about in order to bring me down with them. They're starting with you because you knew that I was alive from the very beginning" he explained.

"So, what are we going to do? Wait for them to kill me?" she asked. Sherlock noticed the change of tone in her voice. She was calm. She didn't sound like she was afraid of being killed.

"No, if they really wanted to kill you, they would've done it straight away. They're waiting, waiting for something, for me to do something or to find something. They're not going to kill you even if they know where we are…I need to think" he said. Molly got up and went to the kitchen, leaving the man alone. She was kind of excited, she never directly took part in his cases and she was one of the clues. Somehow, it was an adventure, a really dangerous one.

Sherlock laid on the couch for the entire day, didn't eat and never stopped thinking. Molly went to bed, her mind set on tomorrow. Changes were ahead and she feared for the worst.  
She felt his warm body press against her back and was genuinely surprised when he repeated himself and wrapped his arms around her body.

"What do we do?" she whispered.

"We ask John to help us" he answered quietly.

"You want to tell him you're alive?" she asked, surprised. Happily surprised.  
"It's about time. I can't protect you and save you without his help" he explained.

"You don't have to save me. You have to bring Moriarty's men down" Molly said after a brief moment of silence.

"I'm not going to let them touch you, Molly. I won't abandon you" he replied with a soft voice that sent shivers down Molly's spine. She felt tears fill her eyes and sniffed.

"That poor woman…they killed her because she looked like me. They killed her because of me" she said, trying to hold back her tears.

"It's not your fault. Killers are heartless, Moriarty's men are just playing a game. They don't care about people" he tried to reassure her.

"You're not heartless" she whispered, turning around. She buried her face in his neck, letting his arms embrace her gently. He didn't know why he didn't push her away, he knew that he needed her to be safe and his arms were the safer place in that moment.

"You were never a fake and you care about people. You're not heartless, Sherlock Holmes, and I believe in you" Molly said, pressing her face onto his neck. Sherlock didn't move or talked and waited for her to calm down. Molly fell asleep, inhaling his scent. Sherlock stroked her hair repeatedly, holding her close to his chest, close to the heart he so stubbornly said he hadn't.

"I'm going to take care of you, Molly Hooper".

* * *

_Even if I tend to kill people off in my stories, I couldn't kill Molly!  
So, she's not dead but there's a dead woman!_

_Thank you for reading. Reeeeview? :D *throws Easter eggs and bandages around - don't want you to get hurt!*_


	4. Lost and Found

_Hellooo!  
I have to thank SAIgirl24 because she helped me with my grammar and is going to help me with the entire story! :D YAY for her!  
So ... I don't have much to say, just enjoy this chapter! :)  
_

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own Sherlock or Molly or John or the show. But I do own Melissa!  
__**A/N:** English is ____not my first language_ and this chapter was beta'd by SAIgirl24.  


* * *

When Molly woke up, she found herself still intertwined in Sherlock's arms. She smiled and realized he was holding her extremely close, as if he didn't want to let her go andlet her slip away from his safe arms. She eventually managed to get up without waking him up, even if she doubted he was asleep. She got ready, answered a few phone calls and as she opened the door, Sherlock spoke.

"Are you sure it's a good idea for you to go to work?" he asked. Molly jumped and closed the door.

"Lestrade phoned me and asked me if I could meet him at Bart's," she answered.

"I think it's better if you don't leave the apartment," he said.

"Then what am I supposed to do?" she asked putting her bag down.

"Wait for me to return. Call Lestrade and tell him you're not feeling well, that you're still shaken from yesterday's events and want to rest; at least for the morning. We have to talk with John first," he explained. Molly nodded and tried to find her cell phone in her bag.

Sherlock left at mid-morning, ready to tell John about his plan and fake death. Molly patiently waited for them to return.A couple of hours later she was about to call her sister when the doorbell rang.

"Sherlock!" Molly exclaimed, taking him by the arm. She shut the door closed and put Sherlock on the couch.

"What happened? Who did this to you?" Molly asked, grabbing the first aid kit. Sherlock rested his head on the couch, breathing heavily. His nose was bleeding.

"John," he simply answered. Molly smirked and started to clean his injury. As she cleaned the blood, Sherlock winced but tried to keep calm.

"Let me guess, he didn't take it that well" Molly said.

"Don't guess, it's pretty obvious he was mad at me," he replied. Molly laughed, trying to stop the blood from flooding out.

"And now?" she asked. The nose was all clean and the blood stopped. She took a plaster* and carefully put it on his nose.**  
**

"Now we wait for him to calm down. It won't take him more than a few hours," he said sitting up.

"Okay," she said and got up, "You were lucky your nose was not broken. It shouldn't bleed that much again as it will heal soon."

"Thank you," he said. She smiled. _He apologized twice and__he thanked me. Who__is this man?_she thought. She lowered her gaze to her hands, her fingers covered with blood. His blood. She quickly ran into the bathroom and washed her hands. She always feared she would get her hands dirty with his blood. The day he fell from Bart's, she feared things didn't work out as planned, that he had died and she had tried to save him, blood all over her. She often dreamtof his dead body and his blood on her, but she never told him.

"It's just blood, Molly," he said, appearing out of nowhere. She dried her hands on the hand towel and turned around.

"I'm not afraid of blood. I'm just afraid people might hurt you…kill you," she admitted.

"That's something that's likely to happen since there are people who want to kill me," he said.

"I don't want it to happen," she almost whispered, shaking.

"Why are you so concerned for me? Why are you afraid of people hurting me but don't care about those people who are actually trying to kill you?" he asked. It had been a question that wandered around his mind palace for quite a while.

"Because I love you and I want you to be safe. I know the risk I'm taking by hiding you here-and I don't mind-but I don't want people to hurt you," she said honestly. He didn't expect her to be so open with him. She was easily deducible,but not so easily readable. Her words echoed in his mind. _Because I love you. _Could the tiny pathologist feel something that deep for the man who constantly used and ignored her? He looked at her and saw a change in Molly. She was no longer that young woman with a teen crush on the detective. She was a grownwoman, not scared at all, and ready to die for him because she truly loved him. He did not understand,but he admired her for it. She walked past him and went to the living room, taking a book with her. Sherlock followed her after a while, sitting on a chair, his gaze lost in the air.

After lunch there were loud knocks on the door and when Molly opened it, John burst into the room.

"How come I didn't know anything about this? How come you never told me?" John shouted, looking straight at Molly. She was expecting this.

"It's not her fault, John. She had to keep the secret in order to protect me and you. I told you," Sherlock said, getting up.

"Don't talk to me, you're dead," he said pointing his finger towards him.

"I'm sorry, John, I wanted to tell you but I couldn't," she replied.

"You held my hand telling me to remember him because he was gone when he was actually hiding in your apartment!" he yelled.

"I know, I'm sorry, I was trying to help," she defended herself.

"John, listen to her," Sherlock said.

"Stop talking, dead people don't talk!" John shouted.

"John, please, calm down," Molly said.

"I'm not calming down!" he snapped and the looked at his dead friend. "It's been a year Sherlock, a damn long year!"

"It was necessary, John. I've already told you why I did this, don't make me repeat myself," Sherlock said.

"Why now? Why are you telling me this now?" he asked his hands closed into fists.

"We need your help. _I_need your help. Moriarty's men are still out there and they know I'm alive. I have to stop them,but right now I can't do this alone," Sherlock explained. John looked confused and answered after a few minutes of reflection.

"I'm not sure you're Sherlock Holmes, he wouldn't have admitted that he couldn't do things on his own," John said.

"I need help because people I care about are at risk. The dead woman you found with Molly's name on it was a warning. They're going to kill her next, thenyou after her, and they're not going to stop until the last of my friends is dead," Sherlock explained. John sat down, scanned Sherlock and let out a loud breath.

"What have you done to him?" he asked Molly. "He actually admitted he needs help and that he cares about people. And that he has friends". Molly smiled, knowing John already forgave Sherlock but just wanted to make him understand what he's been through.

"John, this is serious," Sherlock said impatiently.

"I know. Okay, tell me what's our move," he said and Molly let out a sigh of relief. Things were working out.

"We need to find Moriarty's men. I've tracked them down a few times this year but they always managed to escape. We know Molly is the target; they might follow her around and you, John, must be there with her. I can't let people know I'm alive yet. I need you to gather information for me," Sherlock explained.

"But with John around they're not going to attack me," Molly pointed out.

"That's the intent," Sherlock said.

"Actually, we could use me as bait for a trap to find and catch them," Molly said.

"No, that is out of the question," Sherlock firmly said.

"Think about it for a moment! If they really want to kill me they will know where I am going, who I'm seeing, and where to find me. You can hide somewhere nearby and wait for them to attack me. We could kidnap and interrogate them about the others," Molly said.

"She's got a point," John admitted. Sherlock looked at him with disbelief in his eyes.

"No, we're not going to use her! We're not going to deliver her to the killers," Sherlock protested.

"We'll protect her. We might actually involve Lestrade; ask for men to guard her from hidden places. This might work, Sherlock. It's easier and quicker than waiting for information to be found," John said. Sherlock didn't like that plan. He really didn't.

"You asked for our help, Sherlock. This is what we've got," Molly said.

"I don't want anything to happen to you," Sherlock said and John looked between the two of them. _Has something happened during this past year?_, he asked himself.

"I'll be safe. I can take things with me, like pepper spray," she suggested. Sherlock still didn't like that plan, but agreed.

"We should tell Lestrade then," Sherlock said.

"Are you going to tell him too? That you're alive?" John asked.

"I have to if I want him to help us protect Molly, but it's not going to be official. I need to stay dead until Moriarty's network is destroyed," Sherlock said and John nodded. They got ready to leave and went to Bart's, where Molly actually had to meet Lestrade.

"Molly! Hi! It's so good to see y-Sherlock?" Lestrade said as soon as they entered the morgue.

"Hello, Lestrade," Sherlock said. Lestrade looked around and sighed.

"Am I dead?" he asked and John laughed.

"It's a long story, but no, you're not dead" John explained.

"Okay…good," Lestrade said, not sure what to add.

"We came here because we need your help. Moriarty's men are still around, we need to take them down and we have a plan," Sherlock said and the Inspector smiled.

"I knew you weren't a fake," he said and Sherlock gave him a genuine smile. "What do you need?"

"Men. We need men to follow Molly around and be ready to help her if someone attacks her. The dead body you found was a clue for me, they intend to kill Molly to get to me, and we might be able to capture them if they try to attack her," Sherlock explained. Lestrade felt uncomfortable as he mentioned the dead body.

"Okay. Speaking of the dead woman…" he started, reaching for something into his pocket.

"Did you identify her?" Molly asked and noticed that the body was on the table in the middle of the morgue.

"Almost. That's why I needed you here this morning, we need your help to complete the identification," Lestrade said looking at Molly.

"Me?" Molly asked, confused.

"We found her purse in the river. This is her wallet," he said giving it to her. Molly took the wallet and gasped. Her eyes flew on the dead body and walked towards it, shaking. Lestrade raised a hand to stop Sherlock and John's question and walked over near the body.

"Are you…" Lestrade started, but didn't know how to ask her. Molly nodded. Lestrade lifted the sheet and the wallet fell on the floor with a thud. Silence dominated the morgue for quite a while and they all felt dead for a moment. John was confused and scared; he wanted to know who this woman was. Sherlock was trying to deduce Molly's thoughts, but her face was covered with too much pain to decode what she was thinking. Molly rested her shaking hand on the woman's shoulder and traced a line between the moles, creating an invisible triangle.

"This is the note we found on her," Lestrade said showing Molly the note. She took it and a tear fell from her eye.

"I wasn't the clue. M didn't stand for Molly. It stood for Melissa," she explained, her voice shakier than ever. "This is her suitcase note. She's my sister".

John put a hand on his mouth, closing his eyes, shaking his head.

Lestrade took the note back and tried to cover the body again but Molly stopped him.

Sherlock was standing still, deciding it was for the best to say nothing.

Molly put her hands on her sister's belly and then rested her forehead on them.

"I'm so sorry I never got the chance to meet you," she whispered. John's mouth dropped and wished it was all a dream, but Molly's tears were telling him this was reality. Lestrade covered the body and Molly begged to be taken outside. John grabbed her just in time before she fainted. Sherlock had his eyes fixed on the covered body. They did not just kill a woman whose cheekbones were similar to Molly's. They killed her pregnant sister.

* * *

_I just love drama._  
_(I'm evil)_

_*plaster: that's something you usually put on wounds - like a bandage (SAIgirl24 told me she didn't exactly know what a plaster was so I felt like explaining it to you - that's the word I found in the dictonary!)_

_Review? :D (I know you all are going to kill me in your reviews)_


	5. The Wrong Hooper

_Hello you awesome people!  
I'm sorry for this late update, I'll try to update sooner next time :)  
Thank you so much for you reviews, it means a lot to me :D  
Enjoy this!  
_

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own Sherlock or Molly or John or the show. But I do own Melissa and Kevin and Mr. Williams.  
__**A/N:** English is ____not my first language_ and this chapter was beta'd by SAIgirl24.  


* * *

They took Molly back home and she stayed in bed all day, her friends staying in her apartment in case she needed something. It was almost dinner time when Lestrade had dropped by.

"I called her family. They're going to bury her here in London but won't do it until the case is over. We should hurry up," Lestrade said.

"But we need Molly for our plan," John said, crossing his arms.

"We have to come up with a new plan then," Sherlock said, in part relieved they weren't going to use the old one.

"No," Molly said. They looked at her; she was standing at the door of her bedroom, her hair messed up, eyes red as ever. "We're going to do as we decided. We won't change anything".

"Molly, you don't have to do this, we can surely think of something," John said.

"No. I want to do this. I want the men who killed my sister to be caught. I want to give my sister and…and her baby a proper burial. Our plan isn't going to take a lot of time," she said, hiccupping now and again.

"We'll catch them, Molly," Lestrade said giving her an apologetic smile. She nodded and the doorbell rang. Lestrade looked into the peep-hole and opened the door.

"Hello. Is Molly…oh Molly there you are!" the landlord said. He had a long package in his arms and he smiled, showing his imperfect teeth.

"This package arrived for you this afternoon, you weren't here so I took it for you," he said handing her the package. Sherlock took it immediately, his eyes trying to deduce something.

"Thank you, Mr. Williams," Molly managed to say and after looking suspiciously at Sherlock, the men shrugged and left.

"Do you think it's a message from them?" John asked, observing his friend.

"It could be. I don't hear any ticking noise, I believe it's safe," he said. Molly approached him, tears in her eyes, and took the package, putting it on the sofa. She opened it and jumped up, covering her mouth. The skirt of a dress was coming out of the package. Molly opened it fully, showing the full short peach coloured dress.

"Molly?" John said. She felt sick.

"Oh, God" she whispered. Nausea hit her and she quickly ran to the loo, where she threw up.

"I'm having some trouble understanding this situation," John said as Molly threw up again.

"She'll tell us eventually," Lestrade said. Sherlock silently went to see how she saw doing and after he heard the toilet flush, he entered the bathroom, finding her on the floor. He knelt down beside her and Molly sniffed.

"That's my bridesmaid dress. She was going to get married in August...just a month away," she said, tears streaming down her face. Sherlock just realized how messed up his pathologist's life was. Then, he realized he thought about her as _his_.

"You need to rest," he said helping her up. She drowned into her bed and Sherlock left the door ajar.

"How is she?" Lestrade asked.

"Not good. That's her bridesmaid dress. Her sister was about to get married," Sherlock answered.

"She was about…? Oh God!" John exclaimed, his eyes shocked, "Poor Molly".

"We need to find them," Lestrade added, crossing his arms.

"We need to organize the patrol's shifts. We have to make sure they follow her every move," Sherlock said.

"Do you think she'll be able to do that tomorrow?" Lestrade asked.

"She will, but if she's not ready, I'll text you. Be ready outside tomorrow morning around eight, she usually leaves after that hour. The next patrol must already be at Bart's when Molly comes. If we keep the same person around her they might suspect something," Sherlock explained and Lestrade mentally took note of everything. They spent the rest of the evening planning the shifts and after a while, they left.

"I think I should go…home," John said, finding it strange to go home without Sherlock now that he knew he was alive.

"I'll text you too, in the morning if something changes," Sherlock said and John nodded.

"If you need anything, just call me," he said grabbing his jacket. He turned around and did something he had never done; he hugged Sherlock who, strangely, hugged his friend back.

"We'll sort things out, Sherlock. Together," he said and Sherlock smiled.

"Thank you, my friend," he replied, surprising John. He thought that maybe that year he spent with Molly, pretending to be dead, had changed him inside, made him a better person, better than he already was.

"Take care of her," John said before disappearing behind the door. Sherlock fed Toby, turned the lights off and went into the bedroom. Molly was still under the cover, apparently sleeping. He reached her and as soon as he laid his head on the pillow, Molly turned around and begged for a hug. He embraced her, finding it strangely comfortable. He was getting used to have her in his arms and actually, he didn't mind. He didn't mind at all.

He didn't ask her how she was doing and he didn't tell her that everything was going to be okay. She cried her heart out and Sherlock helped her cry that night.

* * *

John and Lestrade both received a message the next morning, from Sherlock.

_Be ready – SH._

Molly got ready after throwing up a couple of times.

"We can postpone this, Molly," Sherlock said when she grabbed her keys.

"No, I can do this," she said, nodding.

"I'm going to keep in touch with John, and Lestrade is going to keep us up to date. If anything happens, we'll know and come straight away," Sherlock exclaimed.

"Okay. Thank you," she said and ran outside. Sherlock went to the window and watched her go, the patrol right behind her. He couldn't help but wonder why she acted so coldly towards him. His mind went through many possibilities and he tried to ignore the one that he thought might be true; Molly wouldn't be in that situation if it wasn't for him. She somehow blamed him for her sister's death and he knew it was true. He had an impulsive desire to bring Moriarty back to life and kill him with his own hands. Things wouldn't be this complicate if it wasn't for him.

Molly went to work and she was grateful she had a lot of papers to fill. She spent her day in the office, not wanting to enter the morgue as she knew her sister was there. She felt sick again and threw up in the bin. She didn't know how she was going to face her sister's death because deep in her heart she still didn't accept it.

At Bart's everything was normal, she didn't notice people following her around or staring at her. Some people did stare but she saw pity in their eyes. They probably found out about her sister, people loved to gossip in London, especially at Bart's.

She went out for lunch and decided to go to the usual place she used to go to on Wednesdays, since she skipped it last time. She remembered how that day she was mad at Sherlock for telling her such horrible things and decided to grab something to eat at Bart's. As soon as she opened the door, Kevin, the old man, greeted her.

"Am I seeing a ghost or is that really you?" he asked.

"It's me, Kevin," she said and kissed his cheek.

"Oh it's so good to see you, darling! I thought you were dead, a man came here last week and told me you were killed," he said.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't me," she simply said and Kevin offered her lunch. Molly ate in silence, looking around, trying to concentrate on the people around her. They were normal people. They all had normal lives consisting of their love affairs with their bosses, arguing with their child's teacher, going to and from their normal jobs. For a brief moment, she wished her life was normal.

Molly decided to go back to work and finished late that night. She noticed nothing out of place as she headed back home around 6 p.m. She was exhausted and knew she had to repeat all that the day after. She reached the main door and looked for her keys when someone grabbed her.

"Don't scream, it doesn't suit you," the man whispered. Molly tried to wiggle out of his grip but it was too tight. She looked around. Where were the policemen?

"Let…go…of me!" she almost shouted.

"Ah! I told you to shut up," he said and dragged Molly into a tiny street around the corner. Molly tried her best to reach her bag and grab the pepper spray, but the man had his arms strongly wrapped around her.

"We'll finally complete the job," he said. He threw Molly on the wall, making her hit her head hard on the stone. She fell, a hand on the back of her head. She felt something wet and knew blood was running down her neck.

"Say goodbye, sweetie," he said raising his gun. Molly jumped aside, hiding behind a dustbin just in time to avoid the bullet.

"Damn it, girl!" he said and walked towards her. She stood up, pushed him away and quickly grabbed the pepper spray. The man shouted, covering his eyes and fell on the ground. Molly kicked his gun away and ran back to the main street. She bumped into someone who grabbed her by the arms, stopping her from falling. A large group of men walked past her and she recognized Lestrade among them.

"It's me, Molly, you're safe," Sherlock said. Molly looked at him and let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. Sherlock let go of her and John approached them.

"You weren't here…" she whispered.

"They knew we were watching you and gave us fake tracks to follow, leading us to the other part of London. You're bleeding," John said. Molly looked down at her hand and a strong pain suddenly hit her head.

"My head…" she managed to say and John immediately checked on her.

"You've got a cut. Come with me, we have the first aid kit in the car," John said and took Molly away. Sherlock watched as Lestrade arrested the man who attacked Molly. Their plan worked; Molly was alive, the man was captured and they were finally going to take Moriarty's men down.

They went to Lestrade's office with the man. Molly insisted to be taken along with them; she wanted to be there during the questioning.

"So… You've got me," the man said, laughing. He was sitting in the centre of the room, Lestrade in front of him, Sherlock pacing back and forth. Molly and John were in a corner, listening.

"What were you doing at Molly Hooper's house?" Lestrade asked.

"Isn't that obvious?" the man asked, annoyed.

"Answer me," Lestrade exclaimed.

"Fine. I was waiting for her."

"Why?"

"To finish my job. To kill her."

"Why do you want to kill her?"

"Oh, because she's dear to Mr. Holmes' heart," Sherlock stopped and watched the man. He wanted to know where his accomplices were. "These were the orders, kill the girl first. You all were next. We tracked her down, knew her habits and the places she went to. It was just a matter of time, we had to find the perfect moment".

"How did you find out about Sherlock being alive?"

"It wasn't that hard. We have our sources and even if Holmes has been careful, we found him."

"Why did you kill my sister?" Molly suddenly asked. She knew she couldn't ask questions, but she just needed to know.

"Oh. Oh, your sister. Looks like I got the wrong Hooper," the man said, laughing again, "I was waiting for you to show up at that filthy restaurant but you didn't come that day. I waited for you for hours and when you came, I followed you and killed you but then it turned out I got the wrong girl, it was just some stupid bitch that looked a lot like you. And that explains the resemblance, she's your sister. Well, was".

"Melissa Hooper wasn't part of your plan?" Lestrade asked.

"What? Hell, no, why would we kill her sister? Makes no sense. She just happened to be in the right place at the wrong moment. Shit happens," he answered. Molly felt her knees grow weaker and had to lean on John, who immediately grabbed her. Sherlock's anger grew bigger. Their aim was Molly herself and Melissa wasn't meant to die. It was all a big misunderstanding.

"Why are you telling us everything? You're not even trying to defend yourself," Lestrade pointed out.

"Because… I'm just a man. It's going to take you so much more to get rid of us. I have nothing to loose as I'm a dead man anyway. That's what we do. We kill and get killed. It's life," he answered. Sherlock threw himself at him and grabbed his collar.

"Who do you work for?" he asked and shook the man. "Tell me, who do you work for? Where are you all hiding? What sick game are you playing?"

"A game you won't win, Mr. Holmes. You're wasting your time," he replied and laughed again. Sherlock punched him in the face and he fell backwards, along with the chair.

"Sherlock!" Lestrade protested.

"You're going to tell us everything and you're going to do it now," Sherlock said to the man. He turned around and saw John exiting the room with Molly. He followed them and John reached him before he could reach Molly.

"I'm taking her home, to Baker Street. She'll stay with Mrs. Hudson. I'll come back to help you, but she really needs to rest right now," John said.

"You're right," Sherlock said, looking at Molly. She was shaking and crying silently. "Go". John left and Sherlock went back to the questioning room and almost tortured the man to gain the information he needed.

* * *

_I don't have much to say, I just hope you liked it :3  
And again, review, pleaaase? *puppy dog face*_


	6. Come Back to Me

_FORGIVE MEEE!  
I know I said I was going to update sooner than last time but I had a lot of things to do.  
My lovely beta is not answering my PMs so I guess she's too busy with her own exams/homework :) I decided to update anyway. This means that this chapter is not beta'd!_

_Thank you all for your kind reviews! A while ago I received a few reviews saying I was a "Moffat in the making". Well, thank you :D that actually means a lot to me! (friends often tell me that I could actually get a job at the BBC!)_

_Enjoy this chapter!_

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own Sherlock or Molly or John or the show. But I do own Melissa and Kevin and Mr. Williams.  
__**A/N:** English is ____not my first language_ and this chapter was not beta'd.

* * *

Molly woke up late the day after. Her back was aching and she had a massive headache. For a moment, she thought she had worked too much and her body was only reacting to her efforts but then the bandage on her head made her remember everything. Her sister was dead. Toby jumped on the bed and brushed his face against hers. Molly smiled, stroked his head and then realized that she wasn't in her bed. She looked around, scared, and jumped up when she heard the door open.

"Oh, Molly, you're awake" John said entering the room, smiling. She sat up and looked around again.

"Is this your room?" she asked. It didn't look like it was, though.

"No, it's Sherlock's. You fell asleep on the couch last night, he took you here. It was better to keep you with us for the night" he answered, removing her bandage.

"R-really?" she asked. She got used to the idea of him slipping next to her for the night but she never thought she would end up sleeping in his bed. "Where did he sleep?".

"He didn't, you know, he almost never does" John replied. He sat next to her, smiling, and Toby purred next to them.

"How did he get here?" Molly asked.

"Sherlock asked me, well, ordered me to go and get him. He thought it would be good for you to have him around" he replied and then checked her head.

"Good, the cut is getting better. It was really small" he said smiling at her.

"I thought it was big, I've lost a lot of blood…" Molly said. She felt weak, tired.

"Small cuts on the head tend to bleed a lot, it's normal" he explained.

"Oh, yeah. You're right. God, I'm feeling miserable" she said, covering her face with her hands.

"I wouldn't expect you to feel any differently. Just try to rest, you can stay here. I called Bart's, they're giving you two weeks off. You're staying here until we solve this case and Mrs. Hudson will take care of you" John said.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"That man told us everything, Sherlock tortured him in his own way. We know where Moriarty's network is hiding, we're going to capture them along with Lestrade and his men. You're not coming" John said, stroking her arm.

"I've no intention to come" she admitted, resting her back on the pillows. "Are you sure I can stay here?".

"Absolutely, Mrs. Hudson will help you and there are men guarding the house, just to be safe. We'll be back as soon as we solve this case" he said.

"Thank you" she said, exhausted.

"You're welcome, Molly" he said and kissed the top of her head before leaving. Molly got back under the covers and closed her eyes, inhaling Sherlock's scent.

A couple of hours later Molly heard a lot of noises and decided to wake up. She reached the living room and saw the two man packing. Well, grabbing things.

"I've got it, I've got it, you don't have to repeat everything" Mrs. Hudson said. "Oh, Molly dear, you're up!". Molly suddenly felt like a spotlight hit her.

"Hi" she said, shaking.

"I'm going to make some tea, I'll be upstairs in a few minutes. Be good boys, see you when you return" Mrs. Hudson said, waving goodbye to her boys.

"How are you feeling?" John asked.

"Same as before" she answered.

"We're going now, we don't know when we'll be back but we hope soon" John said and hugged the tiny pathologist.

"We'll text you" Sherlock said. John looked between the two of them and smiled.

"I'll wait for you downstairs. Bye Molly" John said, leaving. He didn't actually leave, he stopped halfway the stairs and looked back into the apartment, overhearing.

"Be safe" she said.

"We will, don't worry" Sherlock said, giving her a quick smile. He was about to leave when Molly spoke again.

"Just…just come back" she said. She was scared, scared that this was the last time she was seeing them. Sherlock turned around, reached her and kissed her forehead. Molly closed her eyes and grabbed his coat, not wanting him to leave.

"I'll come back, I promise" he whispered and when Molly opened her eyes, he was gone.

* * *

For three days Molly kept her cell phone on the pillow next to her, hoping it would suddenly ring up. But Sherlock never called; it would be a text message, from John. Still, she received none. She spent most of her day in bed, _his_ bed. She felt weak, tired and broken. Mrs. Hudson came for lunch and dinner but never got her to eat something. Whenever she ate something, she threw up.

"Oh, darling" Mrs. Hudson said, patting her back as she threw up again. Molly sat on the cold floor and held her head with one hand.

"I know, it'll get better" she said, expecting everyone around her to tell her so.

"Oh no, it won't get better. This kind of pain never leaves" Mrs. Hudson said and Molly looked at her, surprised.

"I too had a sister. We were very dear to each other. When she reached her forties, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She lived for three years but then she passed away. She was younger than me. Here", Mrs. Hudson took the necklace that was always hidden under her shirt. "That's her. My beautiful sister". Molly looked at the picture; a smiling, blond woman. She looked strong and a lot like Mrs. Hudson.

"I knew she was dying but the pain that followed her death was unbearable. I still miss her and I always will but I know she'd want me to live my life as best as I could. And I'm sure your sister would want the same for you". Molly had tears in her eyes and wiped them away quickly.

"You're going to heal, you're just going to need time, but you'll never forget her" Mrs. Hudson added and the reached for something in her pocket. "Here, have this". She handed Molly the same necklace she was wearing.

"We had matching necklaces. I had a picture of her in mine and she had a picture of me in hers. Wherever we were, we would be together. When she died, I kept her necklace. You can have it, put a picture of your sister in it and have her always near your heart" Mrs. Hudson said. Molly took it and smiled but then something hit her.

"I thought your sister was alive" Molly said. She often spoke of her trips to her sister's house.

"Oh, she is. Julie's well and alive" Mrs. Hudson said. "I had two sister. Christie, the one who died, was my twin. Eight minutes younger". Molly felt her stomach twist and held a hand over her mouth.

"I'm so sorry" she whispered.

"Oh, it's fine dear, I'm fine now. I'll prepare some tea, call me if you need anything" she said leaving. Molly admired the old lovely woman. She was strong and she wanted to be like her. She looked at the picture of her in the necklace she was holding.

"Thank you" she found herself whispering, even if there was no one to hear her words.

That night she received a text from Sherlock. She blinked several times, hoping her eyes were not deceiving her.

_Still alive. Case almost solved. You OK? – SH._

She smiled a bit and quickly texted back.

_I'm fine. Come home alive, please. Be safe__ - MH_

She sent it and threw her phone on the bed, turning around. They were alive and almost done. She would see them soon but she kept wondering how things were going to change. Sherlock was going back to his normal life once this case was solved. He needed his old life back; in fact, he'd done all of this just to get it back. She would eventually take back the role of the pathologist he used for experiments. She tried to threw those thoughts away as she closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep, the words _'move on, girl'_ echoing in her mind.

Four days later, they got back home. Molly was on the couch, stroking Toby, staring at the ceiling. Her mind was set on her sister when the door abruptly swung open. What she saw was unexpected.

"Oh, God, what happened?" she asked reaching out to hold Sherlock. John was holding his fried by the arm, blood all over them.

"He's been shot…let's bring him to his bedroom" John said and Molly helped him. They almost threw Sherlock on the bed and he let out a moan.

"You have to go to the hospital" Molly said, sitting next to him.

"I…can't…I'm dead, remember?" he said, clenching his teeth together.

"But you'll die if you don't" Molly whispered. She shook her head, telling herself this was just a dream, that Sherlock wasn't there, wounded, and that they still had to solve the case. But when John ripped his shirt open, reality hit her.  
"Careful!" Sherlock shouted.

"You're unbelievable, you're dying and all you can think of is your damn shirt" John said, getting the first aid kit.

"But we can't treat him, he needs a doctor!" Molly exclaimed.

"I must be lucky then" Sherlock said, trying to smile. "I've got two".

"I can help him, Molly, but I need your help as well" John said and Molly nodded. John was used to those kind of emergencies; being an army doctor, he had seen worse and removing a bullet from someone's chest was quite easy. After what felt like eternity, Sherlock's wound was clean and closed.

"You're going to survive" John said, putting the needle away.  
"Good. That's good" Sherlock said, his voice low as a whisper.

"We need to change the bed sheets though, you can't sleep in those" John said, looking at the sheets covered with blood. Molly looked down at her hands and shirt and realized she was covered with blood as well. His blood. Again. Her hands began to shake, her heart racing fast.

"Molly…" Sherlock said. She looked up and found the detective giving her a reassuring look. "It's just blood".

"I know" she managed to say, her voice shakier than her hands.

"I'm fine now" he insisted. She nodded and went to the bathroom, cleaning her hands, closing her eyes. When her hands were finally clean, she took her shirt off and threw it in a corner. She cleaned her torso a bit, feeling dirty. There was a knock on the door and she quickly dried herself.

"I-I'm coming" she said.

"Here" John said, slowly opening the door. He put his arm inside the bathroom, his back on her, handing her one of her shirts.

"Thanks" she said, taking it and putting it on. She went back to the bedroom and saw Mrs. Hudson putting the new bed sheets on.

"Now rest, my boy, you well deserve that!" Mrs. Hudson said before caressing his face and leaving.

"Molly…" Sherlock whispered and she immediately sat beside him, taking his hand.

"I'm here" she answered. He looked at her, his eyes tired, his face completely worn out.

"We did it. They're all gone now" he said.

"I knew you would succeed" she said. She meant it. "Now rest". She got up but his hand grabbed her wrist and stopped her from moving.

"Stay with me" he said. It wasn't an order, it was a simply request. She slipped next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. He quickly fell asleep and Molly listened to the beat of his heart, glad it was still beating normally. She closed her eyes and fell asleep at the sound of his breathing joined by his heartbeats. After putting the dirty sheets and clothes in the washing machine, John went back to the room but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the two of them sleeping together. He smiled, silently entered the room and took the first aid kit.

_Let's hope things stay this way_, he thought as he left.

* * *

_Just FYI, this story came into my mind while I was daydreaming about the clues that they gave us about season 3. I wanted the "wedding" clue to have something to do with Molly and then I thought "It could be her sister's wedding!" and then I thought about killing her sister. And making her pregnant. And well, you know how it turned out :P  
Revieeew, please? And I swear, I'm updating in a few days. I promise!  
_


	7. Rights and Wrongs

_I love you. Yes you guys, I love you!  
Your reviews are amazing, I just love to read them! My heart melts every time I get a new review :') And there's always some new follower and this gets me so excited!_

Here's the new chapter, as you can see I updated! Well, that's obvious, stupid me.  
I'm introducing new important characters in this chapter! Woo-hoo! (I've just realized that I created a lot of new characters, lol)  


_**Disclaimer:** I do not own Sherlock or Molly or John or the show. But I do own Melissa and Kevin and Mr. Williams. And Ethan, Sam, Jennifer, just everyone who's not from the BBC show, okay?  
__**A/N:** English is ____not my first language_ and this chapter was not beta'd.

* * *

Sherlock recovered quickly but they all forced him into bed for a couple of days. He complained, wanting to get up and be alive again. Mycroft came to visit his very much alive brother and told him he was working on the restoration of his name and how to bring him back to life. Molly was always quiet, helping John with Sherlock and the house. She always shared the bed with Sherlock and John found it quiet strange that Sherlock didn't mind that physical contact.

"I'm going back home tomorrow" she said. She was lying in bed next to Sherlock who was reading the newspaper.

"You're not bothering us" Sherlock said, his eyes fixed on the news.

"But I want to go home. It's safe now" she said. Sherlock put the newspaper on the nightstand and turned around. He noticed something new on her.

"Where did you get this?" he asked, pointing at the necklace she was wearing. It was new on her but the necklace itself was old, worn.

"Mrs. Hudson gave it to me. It's her sister's necklace, she died many years ago. Did you know she had a twin?" she asked, playing with the necklace.

"I knew she had a sister somewhere here in England but I never knew she had a twin" he replied.

"She gave me this to remember my sister" Molly explained and opened the necklace, showing him a picture of Melissa. Sherlock stayed silent and looked at Melissa's picture. She looked like an older version of Molly; no wonder the killer got the wrong one, they could be non-identical twins. Molly rested her head on his shoulder, holding the necklace close to her heart, as Mrs. Hudson said.

"When's the funeral?" he asked, putting his arm around her shoulder.

"This afternoon" she replied.

"Tell me about her" he said, stroking her arm.

"She was a hostess. She loved to fly and wanted to travel around the world. When she was little she always said she was going to be a fairy and that she was going to fly around the universe, meet witches and have adventures with pirates" she said laughing and Sherlock smiled. "She wanted to take me along with her, have adventures together. "if I get sick, I'm going to need a doctor" she said, trying to convince me. Then, she became a hostess and met Ethan, a police officer". She took a deep breath before speaking again. "When I moved to London, she came here with me, she wanted to make sure I was okay before leaving me on my own. We always went to...to that restaurant together. The one where they killed her. It reminded us of home, there was a small restaurant similar to Kevin's in Brighton". Sherlock frowned as she mentioned her home town. He had forgotten she was from Brighton. "When she went back home, I found myself going to that restaurant every week. It reminded me of her and I felt less alone. She was so strong and cheerful and lovely and…". Molly sniffed, burying her head in his embrace. Sherlock kept her close and waited for her to calm down.

"We would've met anyway" Sherlock said. Molly looked up, confused.

"What?" she asked.

"When I was a boy I wanted to be a pirate. Probably, I would have ended up playing adventures with your sister and eventually meet you" he said and Molly smiled. She didn't know how he did that but whatever he was doing or saying, he was able to make her smile.

In the afternoon she locked herself up in the bathroom, wanting to be on her own for a while before her sister's funeral. She got ready, put her dress on, did her hair and put some make up on. She looked at her reflection and smiled to herself. She was wearing her bridesmaid dress; she asked John if he could go and get it for her. She didn't know why but she wanted to wear that dress at her funeral. She wanted to say goodbye to her sister with the dress she was meant to wear at her wedding. She liked that idea. When she reached the living room, she found John helping Sherlock with his jacket. They both turned around when they heard her heels hit the floor and both men smiled.

"You look beautiful" John said, smiling warmly. She smiled back.

"Thanks" she said and looked at Sherlock. "Are you coming with me?".

"Yes. Unless you don't want me to come" he answered. He knew he shouldn't be there since he was the reason Melissa had been killed but he wanted to be there for Molly.

"No, I want to. I mean…thank you" Molly mumbled. He offered her his arm and she took it, walking downstairs, reaching the cab that was waiting for them.

As she thought, she was the only one wearing a coloured dress. Everyone was wearing black or grey suits and she felt out of place but stood up to her idea. She spotted her mother in the crowd and was relieved to see her dressed in her red suit. Melissa loved that suit. Molly hugged her tight, whispering words to each other, crying silently.

"Mom, this is Sherlock" she said after breaking the hug. Sherlock shook her hand and Jennifer, Molly's mother, just nodded.

"My condolences, Mrs. Hooper" Sherlock said.

"Thank you" Jennifer said, pulling back her hand almost immediately.  
"Where's Ethan?" Molly asked, looking around.

"Oh, he's there, in the front row. Go talk to him, darling" Jennifer said and Molly nodded. She looked at Sherlock who gave her a nod and disappeared among the others. Molly reached her sister's partner and immediately hugged him. She did not receive a warm hug back, though.

"Hi Ethan" Molly said. He looked at her, almost disgusted.

"What is he doing here?" he asked. Molly knew who he was referring to.

"He's here for me. For us" she answered.

"Us? He knows nothing about us. He's the reason why we're here in the first place".

"Please, don't say that. It's not his fault".

"Come on, Molly! It's his fault. If it wasn't for him, Melissa would be alive! You know that".

"It's my fault and you know it, those people were trying to kill me".

"Can't you see what he's doing to you? He's making you believe it's your fault when it's actually his!".

"Stop it Ethan, please".

"Aren't you ashamed of yourself? You're sleeping with the man who got your sister killed".

"We're not-you know nothing, Ethan!".

"What I know is that Melissa is dead and she's not going to magically come back to life".

The priest reached the altar and everyone went to their places. Molly found Sherlock standing alone in a corner and pulled him along with her, making him sit next to her in the front row. He didn't feel like it was right for him to sit there but he needed Molly to be okay and this was making her feel okay.

After the ceremony, they all went to bury Melissa's body and give her their last goodbyes. Sherlock stayed behind, feeling like it was for the best.

As soon as Melissa's grave was buried, people started to leave.

"I want to talk to him" Ethan said. Molly looked at him, distraught.

"Why?" she asked.

"I want to hear what he has to say" he answered. Molly's mother couldn't bear that argument and left the two of them at the gravestone. As she left, she approached Sherlock.

"I'm glad you're here for Molly" she said.

"It's the least I could do" he answered. She nodded and left for good. Ethan followed her, giving Sherlock a hateful look. He reached Molly and stood beside her. He looked down and even if his mind was telling him that it was a useless action, he took her hand, squeezing it. It was his odd way to tell her he was sorry. He didn't mind having her around his apartment and letting her sleep in his arms, but even if he got accustomed to physical contact, he still felt uncomfortable with touching people in such an intimate way.

"They want to talk to you" she said. "Today".

"Why?" he asked, even if he already knew the answer.

"They just…want to know everything" she answered.

"You can tell them they can come to Baker Street whenever they want to" he answered. Molly nodded and stayed silent. She said goodbye to her sister and left, Sherlock still holding her hand.

* * *

A few hours later, the doorbell at Baker Street rang. Mrs. Hudson opened the door and led the man upstairs, where Molly was waiting for him.

"Ethan, this is John Watson" Molly said introducing the two men.

"Hi" Ethan said, shaking his hand.

"I'm sorry for your loss" he said and Ethan just nodded. Sherlock entered the living room and stood still, his hands in his pockets. Ethan laughed.

"Look at you; so pretentious and proud of who you are" Ethan said.

"Ethan, please, don't-" Molly began to say but he didn't let her finish.

"Don't what? Don't speak to him like that? Don't insult him? I have every right to insult this bastard!" he yelled.

"You do and I have no intention of stopping you but I thought you actually came here to hear my version of the story" Sherlock said.

"Yes, I want to know what happened to my wife" he answered.

"She wasn't your wife" Sherlock pointed out and John really wanted to smack the back of his head.

"She was going to be my wife if you hadn't gotten her killed!" he yelled back.

"I didn't kill her" Sherlock calmly said.

"You did. It's all your fault" Ethan said, angrily.

"Ethan, listen to me. I've already told you, it's my fault, not Sherlock's. They were trying to kill me, they killed her because they thought she was me" Molly said stepping between them.

"And why were they trying to kill you, Molly? Huh? Because you were helping him!" Ethan shouted, pointing his finger at Sherlock. "He's always going to put you in danger. He's going to get you killed soon".

"Those people are gone, we're safe now" Molly said, shaking her head.

"For how long? There are always going to be criminals, cases for him to solve, new enemies. Is this what you want? To always be in danger, to leave your mother childless?" Ethan asked. Molly was taken aback by his words. On one side, he was right, but she was safe. Safe with him. Ethan looked back at Sherlock, hate in his eyes.

"I've lost my family, Holmes, I've lost the only woman who counted because of you. And I've lost my baby too" he said, tears filling his eyes. "We were happy. We were going to be happy, just the four of us".

"Four?" John asked, confused.

"Yes. I'm not the only one who has lost everything. You left a child motherless, Mr. Holmes" he said and in that moment, they heard someone walking up the stairs. They turned around just in time to see Jennifer enter the room holding the hand of a six-year-old boy.

"Hi Sam" Molly said, kneeling in front of her nephew. He looked around, hiding behind his grandmother's leg.

"Who are these men, auntie?" he asked, scared.

"Oh, this…this is Sherlock Holmes and he's John Watson" Molly said.

"I know you" Sam said, indicating Sherlock. "Where's the hat?". Sherlock frowned and Molly patted her nephew's back.

"He doesn't wear hats inside the house. No one does, right Sammy?" she said.

"Oh, right" he said and looked around again. "Where's mommy?". Everyone in the room gasped, everyone but Sherlock.

"Sam, why don't you come with me? Toby is here, too" Molly said, taking his hand. The boy loved animals and he really liked Molly's cat.

"But I want my mom, where is she?" he asked. John looked at him and saw sadness in his eyes, something children should never have in their eyes.  
"Come with me" Molly said and took him in Sherlock's bedroom.

"From the start, Mr. Holmes" Ethan said as soon as the door closed. "I want to know what happened to Melissa. I don't want you to repeat me what I've read in the newspaper, Molly has told us in outline what happened but I want to know everything". They all sat down and for almost an hour Sherlock spoke, telling them everything that happened.

Molly was sitting on the bed, stroking the boy's hair while he was holding Toby in his arms, petting him.

"He's calm" he pointed out.

"Yes, he's a very strange cat. Sometimes he's calm and then he suddenly jumps around" Molly answered, smiling. Sam didn't smile back.

"When is mommy coming back?" he asked.

"What did dad tell you?" Molly asked. She didn't want to tell him things he didn't already know.

"That mom is away. She took a plane for a long journey" he replied.

"That's right".

"I want my mommy back".

"Dad will tell you everything, sweetheart". After a while, Ethan came in and took him away, leaving Molly on her own. Her mother quickly kissed and hugged her, leaving as well. The house suddenly felt silent and Sherlock entered the room.

"I've told them everything. It didn't change anything, though. They still hate me" Sherlock said.

"I don't" Molly said, looking up from the bed she was sitting on. "I don't".

"I know you don't Molly and I believe this is the problem" Sherlock said. He was rigid, way too rigid.

"What do you mean?" she asked, fearing his answer.

"I fear Ethan is right. I'm always going to find cases to solve, criminals to stop and it's going to be dangerous. Too dangerous for you".

"Too dangerous for me? And for John? Isn't it dangerous for him?".

"It's different".

"No it's not! John can choose to stay around you but I can't? I don't buy this, Sherlock. Just say it!".

"Say what?".

"You were waiting for this, weren't you? You were actually waiting for someone to point out how dangerous it is for me to stay around you so you could get rid of me and go back to your old precious life with John".

"That's not what I meant. I truly believe that it's dangerous to be part of my life".

"But that's what I want, Sherlock. I want you. I want this life!".

"Why would you want this?".

"Because I love you!". There was silence, silence where Molly could only hear John sighing outside the room. She turned around and took her clothes, putting them in her bag.

"What are you doing?" Sherlock asked.

"I'm leaving. I got it, Sherlock" Molly said and faced him. "You just needed me to get you back to your old life. It's done, I'm of no use now".

"Molly, I-".

"No, don't. You don't have to say anything. Goodbye". She stormed out of the room and out of the house. John approached the bedroom door, his arms crossed.

"Not good, Sherlock. Very not good" John said and Sherlock shut the door in his face. He threw himself on the bed and found it quite hard to think since everything smelled like Molly.

* * *

_HA, and you thought the drama was over. Nope. I'm evil.  
But I love you guys :D  
Review? Maybe? Please? You're getting a biscuit if you leave a review! ;)  
_


	8. Fixing You

_I'm kind of repetitive but I don't know how to say this, so: I LOVE YOU GUYS. _  
_Your reviews make me so happy! Thank you so much, it means a lot :')_

_I actually wanted to update yesterday but I had a crazy day, work is keeping me very busy!_  
_I'll say no more, enjoy this chapter ... ;)_

(I hope my grammar isn't too bad, I had a lot of doubts here and there :P)  


_**Disclaimer:** I do not own Sherlock or Molly or John or the show. But I do own Melissa and Kevin and Mr. Williams. And Ethan, Sam, Jennifer, just everyone who's not from the BBC show, okay?  
__**A/N:** English is ____not my first language_ and this chapter was not beta'd.

* * *

The next day Sherlock was being his old self again, pacing back and forth around the living room.

"Could you please stop this?" John asked. He was trying to read the newspaper, Sherlock's face being on the front page of it, the title _"The Reichenbach Hero comes back to life"_ written in black.

"What?" Sherlock asked.

"This. Pacing. It's annoying" John said.

"Didn't you miss it?" Sherlock asked.

"That doesn't mean you can do it continuously" John answered. Sherlock threw himself on the couch and sighed loudly.

"What is taking them so long?" Sherlock asked.

"Who?".

"The clients! I'm back, aren't there cases they're desperate for me to solve?". John laughed and Sherlock frowned. "What?".

"You don't need a case, you need to talk to Molly" John said, bringing his eyes back to the newspaper.

"Oh shut up, John" Sherlock said, turning around. John finally put the newspaper on the ground and rested his arms on the armchair.

"No, Sherlock. You need to fix this".

"I'm not the one who ran away".

"She ran away because she thought you were using her _again_."

"I didn't use her!".

"Then go tell her! Tell her the real reason why you wanted her to stay away from you".

"And what is that?".

"God, Sherlock, why can't you just admit it?". Sherlock turned around and faced his friend, knowing he was going to say something he would have to think about. "One night you were holding her in your arms and then the night after you threw her out of your life. You're human, Sherlock, and it's perfectly normal to have feelings for someone, to care about people. There's nothing wrong with love and there's nothing wrong with you".

Sherlock didn't answer, his mind was trying to assimilate those new information. John tried again.

"Why did you do this? Why did you fake your death?" he asked.

"I've already told you, I did it because it was the only way to save you, how many times am I going to repeat myself?".

"That's right, Sherlock. You did it for us, for me, Mrs. Hudson and Lestrade. Why did you ask Molly for help?".

"Because she didn't count for Moriarty". It took him a while to say that.

"But she does for you. She counts and you want her to be safe. You care about people, Sherlock, you want your friends to be safe and sound and you're not heartless". Sherlock smiled. "What?".

"That's what Molly said to me, the night before I came to you for help".

"Then go to her, apologize and tell her how you feel. Love isn't that bad, you could learn a lot of things from love".

"I don't love".

"I'm sure Molly is willing to teach you how to love". Sherlock didn't move for quite a while. His hands were on his lips and before he knew it, he was running out into the street and calling a cab.

* * *

Molly woke up early that day. When she reached the bathroom, her reflection was the first thing she saw. Her eyes were red and empty. She cried the entire night, remembering her time with Sherlock and blaming herself for her sister's death.

"Stupid, stupid me" she whispered to herself, getting into the shower.

An hour later she was cleaning the kitchen, trying to keep her mind occupied. She kept telling herself that she had to move on with her life, start from the beginning. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't hear the door open. When Toby meowed happily, she turned around and gasped. Sherlock put the key on the table.

"I still had your key" he said.

"Oh, right. Well, thank you for brining it back to me" Molly answered, looking down at the cloth she was holding. Sherlock closed the door and she was surprised to see him still there.

"Do you need something?" she asked.

"Yes, actually, I do" he answered, hands behind his back. _There you go again,_ Molly thought.

"What do you need?" she asked.

"You" Sherlock answered sincerely. Molly frowned, looking scared.

"I…I don't understand" she said. Sherlock approached her and took the cloth from her hands.

"I meant what I said yesterday, Molly. I truly believe that being part of my life is dangerous" he said.

"And I meant it when I said that I wanted to be with you, to have this life, Sherlock" she added.

"I know and that's what upsets me" Sherlock said, looking into her eyes. "You're willingly putting your life at risk, you want to be with me even if all I bring is danger and death".

"That's not true. Everyone is dangerous in their own way. You're just a bit different".

"I don't want you to get killed because of me, Molly. That's why I want you to stay away from me, because…because I care about you way too much to lose you". Molly was taken aback by his words and felt like fainting.

"You're going to lose me if you lock me out of your life. I know the risk I'm taking by staying with you but that's all I want".

"I can't give you what you want. I can't be what other people are, the 'boyfriend' you want me to be because that's not who I am".

"And I don't want you to change. I don't want you to become the perfect boyfriend because that's not who I fell in love with. I fell in love with you, the stubborn, intelligent, methodical Sherlock. I don't want you to change". Sherlock rested his forehead on hers, letting the cloth fall from his hands, taking hers in his.

"I don't know how to love" he admitted. Molly smiled.  
"If you allow me, I can teach you that" Molly whispered.

"I'd be delighted" he said, his voice telling her he was being honest. Molly smiled again, putting her hand behind his neck and leaning forward. She gently brushed her lips against his and was quite surprised when he immediately kissed her back. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her up, putting her on the counter. She ran her fingers through his curls, something she had wanted to do since forever. His hands travelled under her shirt, on her back, their lips frenetically desiring for more contact. Sherlock suddenly broke the kiss, feeling quite surprised. He didn't know what he was doing but he wanted this. He pulled her closer, kissing her again, feeling that her lips suited better when they were on his. It was Molly's time to be shocked. She smiled, though, finding Sherlock's kisses awkward and innocent at the same time, feeling his inexperience hidden under his will to learn fast.

"Does this mean I get unlimited access to the morgue?" he asked, gasping for air.

"I thought you already had it" she said, panting, and he smiled, crashing their lips together again.

Hours later, they were lying in bed, cuddling in each other's arms. Sherlock didn't know how to hold her and he just kept her close in his arms. She felt guilty. She felt guilty for kissing him and for cuddling with him in bed. Tears were filling her eyes and she let them fall on her face.

"What's wrong?" Sherlock asked, noticing her tears. He pulled her closer, kissing her forehead.

"I feel like I shouldn't be happy" she confessed, closing her eyes.

"Because of Melissa?" Sherlock asked. He knew it was about her.

"Yes. She's gone, she's not here to see Sam grow up, to be a mother again, to feel…happy" Molly said. "I feel like I'm not allowed to be happy".

"Don't be stupid, everyone's allowed to happiness. You have to stop blaming yourself and live your life. Dead people stay dead, we carry on with our lives. I'm sure your sister would want you to live your life happily" Sherlock said.

"How do you know?" Molly asked, thinking those words were a bit too sentimental for Sherlock.

"That's what people usually say when someone's grieving" he answered and Molly let out a soft and sweet laugh. "And that's what I thought when I was standing on that roof". Molly looked up, surprised by his words. He was talking about his fake death, it wasn't something he liked to talk about.

"When I was about to jump, I kept thinking that if I was going to die, if our plan wasn't going to work, I wanted people to move on, to be happy, and to live their life normally. I didn't want them to attach themselves to my memory and stop living" he explained. "That's why I think your sister would want you to move on. She would want you to remember her but still to be happy". Molly felt like there was no need to say more, she just rested her head on his chest and enjoyed that moment.

A few hours later John was starting to worry. Sherlock was still wandering around the city, he didn't know where he was and his phone was off.

"Why on earth would he turn his phone off?" John said, snorting. He was about to call him again when Sherlock entered the living room. "Where have you been? I was beginning to worry" John said.

"Still not used to me wandering off again?" Sherlock asked with a smile.

"It's just, you know...you might not come back" John admitted. Sherlock noticed sadness in his eyes.

"I'm not going to fake my death again, John, I can assure you that" he said, taking his violin.

"So, where have you been?" John asked, sitting on the couch.

"Out. I needed to fix something" he answered and started to play a rather cheerful song, which John interpreted as him having solved things out with Molly.

* * *

The next day John went to work, having his own things to do. Sherlock played the violin for quite a while and Mrs. Hudson enjoyed it from downstairs. He stopped just to send a text message.

_Come to Baker Street? Toby is welcome too – SH._

Half an hour later Molly knocked on the door and entered the room, Toby in his cage. As soon as the cat was set free, Molly approached Sherlock and gave him a quick peck on his lips. He pulled her closer again and kissed her deeply. She didn't expect him to kiss her again but obviously didn't pull back, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"How are you today?" Sherlock asked, letting go of her.

"I'm okay. And you?" she replied.

"I'm very good, thank you" he said. Molly turned around and gave a quick look at the room.

"Why did you want me here?" she asked.

"Do I need a reason to have my woman around?" Sherlock asked and Molly felt shivers run through her spine. _I'm his woman. It sounds so much better than girlfriend,_ she thought.

"No, I guess you don't" she said, smiling. Sherlock took the violin again and played for Molly. Cheerful songs again, he didn't want her to feel sad because of his music. Molly sat on the couch, listening carefully, feeling like a feather; his music was enchanting. She eventually fell asleep on the couch, Sherlock covered her with a blanket and took his microscope, starting to analyse some old samples.

When John came back home, he was genuinely surprised to see Molly sleeping on the couch. He smiled and walked on his toes, reaching Sherlock in the kitchen.

"What is she doing here?" John asked.

"I asked her to come" Sherlock answered, his eyes inspecting a sample through the lens.

"You wanted her to be here? With you?" John asked.

"Are you going to point out any other of my behaviours, John?" he asked, raising his head.

"No, no sorry. It's just…" John looked at the living room and smiled - a very warm smile. "…I still have to get used to the idea of you two together".

"Well, get used to it quickly" he answered, his eyes on the sample again. John sat in front of him and smiled again.

"You know, I always thought that The Woman was the only one for you" John said. Sherlock raised his head again, crossing his hands.

"She is" Sherlock answered, leaving John quite shocked.

"She…she is? But…you're with Molly, what about her?" John asked.

"Irene Adler is the only Woman for me, John, the only dominatrix. Molly is not just a woman; she understands me and accepts me for who I am" Sherlock answered. He never expected to have this kind of conversation with John but things had changed.

"I'm glad to hear that. She's really good for you" John replied. Sherlock smirked and went back to his deductions. Molly suddenly woke up a few minutes later, jumping up. Sherlock quickly reached her and knelt down in front of her. Molly was sweating and breathing heavily.

"It's okay, you're okay" Sherlock whispered, caressing her face. Molly laid back down, her breaths still irregular.

"I saw her. In the morgue, again" Molly said, her eyes closed. She was shaking.

"It was just a dream, Molly" Sherlock said, trying to calm her down.

"No. No, it was just a memory coming back" she whispered.

"John, a glass of water" Sherlock ordered. John quickly stood up and filled a glass with water, handing it to Molly. She sat up and drank.

"Better?" John asked and Molly nodded. Sherlock sat next to her and pulled her closer. She rested her head on his shoulder and John felt awkwardly out of place. He went back to the kitchen and got himself busy with something.

"Feeling better?" Sherlock asked.

"Yes, thank you. You can go back to your experiments, I'm fine, really" she said. Sherlock frowned, not convinced.  
"I'm fine, I swear. I just want to rest a little bit more" she said and Sherlock quickly kissed her head, going back to his microscope. In that moment, Molly's phone rang. Sherlock tried to listen to her conversation but still, he couldn't understand it fully.

"Hi…I'm good, you?...yes. Of course, I'd love that…when are you coming back?". There was a long pause. "I understand. Okay, see you later". She went to the kitchen and smiled.

"I'm going back home" she announced.

"Why?" Sherlock asked.

"Ethan called. He's going away for a while, he wants to find a new job in Manchester. I'm taking care of Sam until he comes back" Molly answered.

"Can't he stay with your mom?" John asked, crossing his arms.

"No, my mom already looked after him many times, when Ethan and Melissa had…things…to do. Besides, I don't get to see Sam very often, I'd love to spend more time with him" Molly answered. It felt so strange to talk about Melissa, knowing she was dead.

"I'm coming with you" Sherlock said, taking his coat but Molly stopped him.

"No. It's better if you stay here. Ethan is not going to be pleased to see you again" Molly pointed out. Sherlock let go of his coat and nodded.

"Of course" he said. Molly gave him a peck on the cheek and left as soon as she grabbed her cat.  
"She just needs some time alone with her family" John said, looking at Sherlock.

"I know, John" he replied and threw the old samples in the bin, finding them boring.

* * *

_It's almost 1 am here, so I wish you all a good night (day? where do you live, awesome readers? :D - I swear, I'm not a stalker!)_  
_And give me a good morning tomorrow, review ;D_


	9. Run, Run, Run Away

_I love your reviews! I really do, they make me happy and happy me is goood :D_  
_Phew, work kept me busy this week-end! But here's the new chapter :) Enjoy, my beautiful, awesome, readers!_

(I'm quite random, forgive me!)

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own BBC's characters but I own my characters. Got it? ;)  
__**A/N:** English is ____not my first language_ and this chapter was not beta'd.

* * *

When Molly arrived home, she tidied up the rest of her flat and waited for Ethan and Sam to come. She was thankful her mother gave her a double bed when she moved to London, she didn't have to set up the couch for Sam. Ethan arrived a couple of hours later with Sam, who was dragging himself into the apartment.

"Hey Sammy" Molly greeted him but Sam just sat on the couch, holding his teddy bear in his arms.

"He barely speaks and eats. I don't know what to do, Molls" Ethan said, putting two bags on the floor.

"I'll try my best with him" Molly said.

"It's just…at first he was rejecting the idea of Melissa being gone but now I think he's realizing that she's dead" Ethan said, tears in his eyes.

"What did you tell him?" she asked.

"I told him that she took a plane and this time, she's not going to come back. I told him that his mother is in heaven with his grandpa" Ethan answered.

"He's a child, that's how children react. He'll get better. We all will" she replied after a while, touching his shoulder.

"No, not entirely" he said. He approached his son and hugged him, kissing him goodbye. He explained a few things to Molly and then left.

"So, it's just you and me" Molly said. Sam had his eyes fixed on the floor.

"Sam, look at me" Molly tried again. She bent down and tried to look at him in the his eyes. "Look at me. It's going to be fine, sweetie. I'm going to help you".

"I want my mom back and you're not her!" he yelled and pushed her away. Molly fell on the floor and Sam ran to her bedroom, shutting the door. Molly buried her face in her hands. _I wish you were here to tell me what to do, Melissa. We need you_, she thought, tears falling down her eyes.

Sam managed to lock himself in her bedroom and she couldn't get him out.

"Sam, dinner's ready!" Molly said, knocking on the door.

"I'm not hungry" he yelled back.

"You have to eat something, honey" she protested.

"I'm. Not. Hungry!" he shouted back. Molly sighed and knocked again.

"I made you pancakes" she said. Sam unlocked the door and she gave him a sweet smile.

"Dad says pancakes aren't good for dinner" he said.

"But dad is not here and you love pancakes" Molly pointed out. "I've got peanut butter, too". With those words, Sam jumped into his chair and Molly served him his pancakes and was glad she had managed to make the little boy smile.

* * *

She still had some days to spend at home but she really didn't want to stay home all day. Sherlock would show up sometimes, mostly after dinner, but he never stayed long. He didn't know how to behave around the boy and tried to avoid awkward situations. Molly decided it would be good for both her and Sam to go outside and two days later, she went to the market with him. They were walking on the street when Sam asked her a very unexpected question.

"Can we go and see mommy first?" he asked. Molly looked at him and saw sadness in his eyes. He missed her, and so did she.

"Uhm, okay" she said and took his hand. They went to the cemetery and Molly picked up some flowers for her grave. They reached it and Sam didn't know how he was supposed to behave. Molly handed him the flowers and smiled.

"Put them on the...on the stone" she said, avoiding the word grave. It wouldn't be that helpful. Sam took the flowers and did as his aunt told him. He stood beside her and quickly grabbed her hand.

"I feel like I should speak to her but I'm not sure. Is she going to hear me? Is it normal to talk to stones?" Sam asked, looking up. Molly squeezed his hand and nodded.

"People always talk to these stones when they miss someone. And of course she can hear you, sweetheart" Molly said. Sam sat on the floor and started to play with the stems of the flowers.

"Hi mommy. I miss you. I wish you and my sister were here with me and daddy. Daddy's gone, too. I miss him. He's not there with you, is he? I want to go home. I miss my friends and my toys and granny and everything" he said. Molly was trying hard to hold back her tears but a few managed to escape her eyes, wetting her face. In that moment, she wished she was in Melissa's place, buried underground, dead. Sam needed Melissa. Ethan needed Melissa. She needed Melissa.

"Why didn't we all take that plane?" Sam asked, turning around. Molly opened her mouth, not knowing what to say. "We could've been together. All four, together". Sam was holding back his tears or at least that was what Molly thought. He just couldn't cry, not yet. She offered him her hand and he took it, saying goodbye to his mom, telling her he would come back soon.

Molly finally took him to the market. It was early morning but still a lot of people were crowding the place. She made sure Sam was always holding her hand, she surely didn't want to lose him there.

"Is there anything you'd like to buy?" Molly asked Sam as they passed the cheese stand. He twisted his nose and shook his head.

"No thanks" he replied with a tired voice. Molly just walked on until she reached the stand she was looking for. She stared at the many fruits in the stand and then decided oranges would be good.

"Why are you buying so many oranges?" Sam asked.

"They're good for our health. We can eat them like this or make orange juice" Molly explained, giving him a warm smile. Sam, though, looked frustrated, it looked like Molly's action were disturbing him. At some point, he pushed the bag Molly was filling with oranges on the ground, spreading the fruits all around the stand.  
"Sam!" Molly exclaimed, surprised by his action.

"Stop choosing different types of oranges!" he said, crying. Molly picked up the fruits and apologized to the marketer, putting them back on the stand. She took Sam by the arm and pulled him apart.

"Sam, what's the matter?" she asked.

"Mom kept doing that, after she read that book. She kept choosing oranges with different forms, that's what mom used to do" he said, his face covered with tears. Molly caressed his arms and tried to smile, even thought she didn't know what Sam was talking about; she just had a feeling this thing about oranges was disturbing him.

"Okay then, no oranges. Let's go home now" she said trying to reach for his hand.

"London is not my home! I want to go back, I want to go back!" Sam yelled and pushed Molly away, running through the crowd.

"Sam, come back! Sam!" Molly shouted after him. She tried to walk faster but an elderly couple blocked her way and she lost Sam. She looked for him for half an hour but after that, she panicked. She kept yelling his name, running through the stands, people watching her. She really didn't care, she wanted to find Sam. But she didn't. An old marketer tried to calm her down and told her to sit while he called the police. As soon as the man mentioned the police, Molly started to ramble, telling things such as _"Lestrade, I should've called Lestrade!" _and the old man thought it might be a good idea to mention this name to the police. A few minutes later, the police was there and so was Lestrade.

"Molly?" he asked. She was standing next to the man, her face covered with mascara, tears still running down her cheeks.

"I've lost him, oh God, I've lost him!" she cried, hugging Lestrade. He hugged her back, confused.

"Her son went missing. He ran away in the crowd, we can't find him" the marketer told Lestrade and Molly had so much on her mind that she forgot to correct him. Lestrade was quite confused; since when did Molly have a son? He shook his head and thought that he could ask questions later, when they boy was found.

"Okay, Molly, calm down now, we're going to find him but you have to help me, describe him and tell me what he's wearing" Lestrade said. Molly nodded and carefully took a photograph out of her wallet.

"That's-that's him. He's just-just a bit o-older" Molly explained, giving him the picture, trying to speak as clearly as she could.

"Alright, what is he wearing?" he asked.

"Blue and white striped s-shirt and...beige, beige shorts" Molly answered. Lestrade nodded and gave her a smile before handing the picture to the other policemen. Lestrade looked back at his friend and decided to text Sherlock. Molly could actually need some support.

_Come to the market at Lower Marsh. It's urgent – GL_

_Why? - SH_

_A boy went missing, apparently it's Molly's son? Just come – GL_

_I'm on my way – SH_

Lestrade smiled. Sometimes it was just too easy to get Sherlock there. Six minutes later he was already giving orders and Lestrade was shaking his head.

"Sherlock, would you please calm down?" Lestrade asked.

"I'm not calming down until the boy is found. When was he last seen?" Sherlock asked.

"Forty-five minutes ago" Lestrade said.

"He can't be that far" Sherlock said. Molly sniffed, trying hard not to break down. Sherlock quickly put his arms around her and tried to calm her down.

"I'm going to find him, I promise" he whispered, kissing her head. Lestrade watched that scene, shocked.

"What if-he may have gotten hurt-oh God" Molly cried. "I can't lose him too!". Sherlock quickly ran away, scanning the street. Molly was now crying on John, who patted her back, telling her that Sherlock would find Sam. Lestrade still didn't understand how this Sam was related to Molly.

Of course, it didn't take Sherlock that long to find the boy. Sam was just a few street away and was asking people for directions. Sherlock hid behind a wall and listened.

"Excuse me" Sam asked approaching a man.

"Yes?" he said, smiling down at Sam. "Are you lost, kid?".  
"No" Sam firmly said. "I'm just looking for the airport".

"The airport? What for?" the man asked, confused.

"I have to get on a plane" Sam said, smiling.

"Where are you going, kid?" the man asked.

"In heaven!" Sam said with a happy tone in his voice. The man gasped, shocked. "My mommy's there and I want to be with her".

"Heaven is not reachable, Sam" Sherlock said, reaching him. Sam turned around, surprised to see him. The man looked even more confused. "I know him, you can go". The man shrugged and left, not understanding the situation. Sam lowered his gaze, crying.

"What are you doing here, Sam?" he asked. Sam sat on the ground, hugging himself.

"I want my mom back" he replied.

"You know why your mom isn't coming back" Sherlock said. He wasn't good with kids.

"But I miss her" he cried. Sherlock sat on the ground, legs crossed, touching his lips with his fingertips.

"You have your father. And aunt Molly" he pointed out.

"Why can't I have my mom too?" Sam asked.

"Sometimes, people leave us when we need them the most. My father passed away when I was your age" Sherlock said.

"Really?" Sam asked, wiping away some tears. "What did you do?".

"I went on with my life and became the man I am now. You have a big family and they're going to support you. You have your father and aunt Molly will never leave you" Sherlock said.

"Will you leave me?" Sam asked and Sherlock was genuinely taken aback by his question. This boy was asking him to be there for him even if he barely knew him.

"If it makes you feel better, I won't leave you, I can promise you that" Sherlock answered. He stood up and offered the boy his hand. "Now let's go back to your aunt. She's really worried about you". Sam took his hand and they walked back to where Molly was. When Molly saw them she threw her arms around Sam, kissing his cheeks and telling him how worried she was. Sam figured it out by himself, his aunt was really a mess.

"I'm sorry auntie, I won't do it again" Sam said and hugged her tight. "I love you very much".

"And I love you, Sammy boy" Molly said, hugging him back. As soon as everyone came back, Molly let go of Sam. Still, he followed her around, not wanting to scare her again. He felt a bit guilty. Sherlock suddenly appeared next to her and she hugged him tight, many "Thank you!" coming out of her mouth. Lestrade approached John, who was smiling widely.

"Did I miss something?" he asked, pointing to Sherlock who was now stroking her hair. John nodded.

"A lot, mate" he replied and began to tell him the entire story.

* * *

"I'm having some trouble believing this" Lestrade said, playing with a napkin. They were sitting outside a bar, waiting for the waiter to come and get their orders. After that lively morning, a drink was needed.

"It's not hard, Lestrade. Even a man like you could understand it" Sherlock said.

"I know, it's just..." Lestrade began to say but Sherlock's eyes stopped him. "Nothing, I'm happy for you". The waiter arrived and took the orders, Sam quietly asking if he could have an ice-cream.

"Of course, Sammy" Molly replied, caressing his hair.

"Alright, come with me Sam, we're going to choose one together" John said getting up and Sam looked at Molly, asking her permission to get up. Molly kissed him and smiled, letting go of his hand. When the two disappeared into the bar, Lestrade looked back at the new couple.

"John didn't get to tell me about him, though. They said he's your son?" Lestrade asked, looking straight at Molly.

"Oh, no! No, he's not my son, he's my nephew" she replied with a sad voice. "Melissa was his mother".

"Oh, right. I'm sorry" Lestrade said, feeling uncomfortable. Sherlock quickly changed the subject.

"Do you have anything new and interesting for me?" he asked and Lestrade let out a sigh of relief, happy to have something to talk about.

"Yes, actually, there's a new case. I think it's interesting enough for you..." Lestrade said and told Sherlock all he needed to know. The drinks arrived along with John, Sam and his ice-cream. He ate it silently while the three men spoke about the new case. Molly looked at them and lost herself in her thoughts. She kept thinking about her sister. She would have loved to be part of this life. Melissa had a witty sense of humour and would have beaten Sherlock in some arguments. She laughed to herself at the image of Melissa giving her opinion about the case they were discussing about. A tear escaped from her eye and she shook her head, shaking her thoughts away. She put her arm around Sam and tried to ignore Melissa's voice in her head reminding her that she had to keep an eye on Sam because too much ice-cream was bad for his stomach.

* * *

_Let's see, do you know the book Sam's talking about? This book is going to appear again in this story ;)  
Anyway, I don't have much to say, I just hope you liked it!  
_

_Much love :3_


	10. Promise Me You'll Stay

_YAY, no one knew the book! Hahah :)  
I'm not telling you which book I was talking about, you're going to find out sooner or later ;) As I said, the book is going to appear again!_

Thank you for reviewing, my awesome readers!  
The last chapter was a bit sad but here's a happy chapter! YAY! Well, kind of. Some bits. Just read ;)

(aaand forgive me, this chapter is a bit short, I'll try to update in a few days with a longer one!)

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own BBC's characters but I own my characters. Got it? ;)  
__**A/N:** English is ____not my first language_ and this chapter was not beta'd.

* * *

Sherlock offered Molly and Sam a bed for the night. He noticed how shaken up Molly was and wanted to be around if she needed something. Sam didn't say anything, he literally attached himself to his aunt's legs and followed her. He still felt guilty.  
The cab stopped in front of Molly's apartment and she quickly ran upstairs, coming back after a few minutes with a bag filled with clothes and toys. When the cab stopped again, they were in Baker Street.

Molly played with Sam until dinner time and Sherlock observed her from the couch, pretending the newspaper he was reading was interesting. He wasn't actually reading it, he just wanted to watch her without making her feel, well, watched.

Sherlock was composing music when Molly announced she was going to bed. Sam was fast asleep on the couch and she had tired eyes, too.

"Thank you for letting us stay here tonight" she said, stretching. John patted her back and sat on the couch, a cup of tea in his hand.

"It's always a pleasure, Molly" he replied.

"Well, goodnight then" she said. She took Sam in her arms, carefully. He was tiny and light, it was easy for her to pick him up. He relaxed in her arms and let out a sleepy sigh. Molly looked at Sherlock and smiled. "Goodnight".

"Goodnight" he replied, his violin pending on his right side. Molly headed towards the bedroom and closed the door behind her, Sherlock still watching her.

"You know, this was good" John said, sipping his tea. Sherlock stared at him for a few seconds before raising the violin to his chin again.

"What do you mean?" he asked, starting to play.

"Giving up your bed for them. Telling her she could stay here with Sam. That's what's good" John replied.

"I merely sleep, giving my bed up wasn't a hard decision" he replied. John laughed, finding his friend's difficulties towards affection fascinating.

"Still, it was good" he said again and he could swear he saw Sherlock's reflection smile in the window. He played the violin and John listened, as he used to do before Sherlock faked his death. It felt strange, for a moment, to have him back. He was almost getting used to his friend being gone, living alone, coping with his new life where Sherlock was no more. He didn't like it, though, it was quite boring. There were no cases for him to solve, he was just a doctor and when he tried to get a job he couldn't focus and resigned after one week. He really didn't like that new life and was glad his old one was back. _My miracle, at last_, he thought.

John went to bed after a few songs and Sherlock put the violin down. He found himself walking towards the bedroom and his hand pushed the door open. Molly was sleeping peacefully in his bed, Sam buried between her arms. She was holding him close to her, as if she didn't want to let him go. And Sam didn't want to leave her, his face happily resting on her shoulder. He felt his stomach twist, thinking that the image of Molly holding her nephew was telling him something he didn't quite understand; love. Molly loved her nephew very much, anyone could tell that. And Sam, little Sam, loved her back, her presence making him feel safe. Sherlock closed the door, thinking he understood love better. He still couldn't fully understand it but something in his mind told him love was worth the effort.

In the morning Molly woke up to the sound of Sam snorting. She giggled and hugged him, enjoying his cuteness. Sam woke up shortly after, burying his face even further in Molly's embrace.

"Good morning, sleepy boy" Molly said and Sam yawned.

"Good morning auntie" he whispered, his eyes still closed. "Can I...sleep a bit more?". Molly kissed his cheek and slipped out of bed.

"Of course. It's early. Sleep" she said and Sam was already in his own world of dreams. Molly quietly got out of the room and went to the kitchen, where she found John already making breakfast.

"Oh, good morning! I thought you were going to sleep longer" John said, handing her his cup of coffee. He poured some coffee in another cup while Molly sat down.

"Sam's still sleeping but I'm wide awake" she replied. John sat in front of her, taking some bread.

"Can't sleep well?" he asked and Molly nodded, watching her coffee emit hot smoke.

"Tonight was okay, I never woke up because Sam was with me. But I usually can't go back to sleep after I wake up. I keep seeing her. Melissa" she explained and took a sip of her coffee. "I just...everyone dies, I see dead people every day, I know it but...it's just so different when the one who dies is someone you love".

"I know the feeling" John said and Molly looked up, biting her lip. "I mean, even if he's not actually dead, I thought he was so...I know how you must feel".

"I'm feeling like I'm living this all over again" she admitted and John looked at her, concerned. "I mean, when my father died, I was twenty-six. He had cancer. We knew he was dying but still, when he died it was...painful" she added and thought about what Mrs. Hudson said about her twin. That's why she understood her pain better than she thought she would.

"I'm so sorry Molly" John said, reaching for her hand. She squeezed it and smiled. She looked around and saw Sherlock sleeping soundly on the couch and that sight made her laugh.

"Strangely enough, he actually fell asleep" John said.

"Now I feel sorry for taking his bed" she said.

"Oh don't worry, he's used to falling asleep on the couch. Besides, that couch isn't that uncomfortable" he replied and Molly smiled. She ate her breakfast and cleaned the dishes when Sherlock appeared behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Good morning" he whispered, kissing her neck.

"Sherlock! You scared me" she said, laughing.

"I didn't mean to frighten you. How did you sleep?" he asked, taking his own cup of coffee.

"Good, thanks. You?" she asked, turning around.

"Quite nicely, thanks" he answered and looked around. "Where's Sam?".

"He's still sleeping. He sleeps a lot" Molly answered and Sherlock nodded. He stayed silent for a moment, thinking. He then coughed.

"Sam asked me to stay, yesterday" he said.

"To stay? What do you mean?" Molly asked. Sherlock swallowed and tried to find the right words.

"He asked me not to leave him" he replied. "When I found him, I told him he still had you, that you were not going to leave him and he asked me if I was going to leave him". Molly put her hands on the counter, taking big breaths.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"I've promised him I'm going to stay" he replied, drinking. Molly looked on the ground, feeling guilty.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought you in this situation" she said, thinking how uncomfortable it was for Sherlock to promise a boy he didn't know something like that.

"No, it's alright. Actually, I don't mind. I like the boy, he's...quiet" he replied, Molly's eyes widening. "Well, I can see that he's not always quiet but I believe that this situation it's disturbing him. But he seems alright".

"You really like him?" she asked and he nodded silently. "You didn't have to do this".

"Of course I had to. That's what people do when they want to make someone happy, isn't it? Someone they care about" he pointed out. Molly smiled and quickly wrapped her arms around him.

"You're right. Thank you" she whispered, Sherlock embracing her with one arm.

"You don't have to thank me, Molly" he pointed out.

"Of course I do!" she replied, looking at him. "When Lestrade called you, yesterday, you came straight away to help me. You found Sam and brought him back to me. I know they were going to find him eventually but it was you who brought me back my nephew. You, Sherlock Holmes. I have to thank you, for finding him and for allowing me to be part of your life".

It was something that didn't happen often; Sherlock didn't know what to say. Molly was thanking him, again. It was something that she kept doing and it was something that he failed to say.

___You could probably say thank you__, actually._

Her words echoed in his mind. He never showed her how grateful he was.

"Thank you" he said. Molly smiled.

"What for?" she asked. She wasn't expecting that kind of answer.

"For giving me body parts to work on, for letting me use your lab even if I wasn't allowed. For bearing with me. You've accepted me for who I am from the beginning and it's not something easy for people to do but you have. You've always trusted me. And you saved me. I don't remember thanking you for that".

"You had a lot on your mind in that period, it's understandable".

"That doesn't justify my actions. Forgive me. And thank you".

"Okay, you're thanking me and apologizing, who are you and what have you done to Sherlock Holmes?". Sherlock laughed.

"He's here, I can guarantee you that" he replied and kissed her, making her laugh. Happy Molly was always better than any other Molly he knew and he was enjoying making her happy. He smiled against her mouth, thinking that maybe the old cynical Sherlock Holmes was disappearing and a new caring one was taking his place. _Feelings can be challenging,_ he thought.

* * *

Molly went home a few hours later with Sam, leaving both men occupied with a new big case. Sherlock promised to text her and John warned her that this case was going to take them a few days, probably. He just wanted her to know he was not coming back for dinner.

Sherlock left, this case involving some families in Chester. Molly stayed at home, looking after Sam. She loved to have a child around but she quickly set her mind on the fact that Sam was going back home soon and there would be no more children in her life.

Her mother came to visit her, feeling lonely. She missed Melissa and she wanted to be near her. Besides, Sam had Melissa's eyes and Jennifer loved to stare at the boy who was playing with toys and having fun, reminding her how her eldest child was at that age. Molly just tried to cope with the feelings that were constantly overwhelming her, staying strong for Sam, for her mother and most importantly for herself.

"He's got such a bright soul" Jennifer said, sitting on the couch. Molly sat next to her and watched Sam play with Toby.

"Just like Melissa" Molly said and felt her mother jump beside her. She took her hand and squeezed it, trying to give her comfort.

"I wish she was here to see him grow up" Jennifer said, tears in her eyes.

"Me too" Molly simply said. "I'm so sorry mom". She found herself being hugged by her mother, tears wetting both their faces.

"It's not your fault, darling. The world is full of sick people" she whispered to her daughter. "And I don't blame _him_. I mean, I do but I know it's not his fault either". Molly nodded, hiding her face in her hair. Her mother always had beautiful hair. They broke apart, wiping their tears away.

"We know how to cope with this. We'll get through this too, sweetheart. We will" Jennifer said, smiling. "And most importantly, we won't forget them". Molly smiled.

"No, we won't".

Ethan always postponed his return and Sam was getting nervous. It was August and Ethan had been gone for a month and a half.

"Ethan, you have to stop this. You have to come back" Molly said one night. She was talking with him over the phone.

"You know I can't, I'm trying to find a new job" he answered.

"Where are you?" she asked. He had moved over the past month, from Manchester to Glasgow to Norwich.

"Cork" he said after a while.

"Cork? Cork?! Ethan, you're in Ireland?" she asked. He was supposed to be in London.

"There are people looking for policemen here and the salary is good, I have to see if there's still place for me" he replied.

"You have a job, in Brighton. You have a son. Do you remember him, Sam, your son?" she exclaimed. She was mad at him, mad because he left his son behind for almost two months.

"Stop talking like this Molly. Of course I remember him and I'm doing this for him" Ethan replied back.

"For him? You're taking him away from everything he knows, you're not here for him, he wants to stay home, with you" Molly said.

"Blame it on your boyfriend, it's his fault if I want to move out. Home remembers me of Melissa and I can't stand to be within those walls anymore" Ethan said and Molly sighed, knowing Ethan would never accept Sherlock.

"Dad?" Sam asked, coming out of the bedroom. He was sleepy but he had a tiny smile on his face. Molly handed him the phone and Sam sat on the couch.

"Daddy! Where are you?" he asked.  
"I'm in Ireland right now. I'll be back soon Sam, I promise" Ethan said.

"I miss you daddy" Sam whispered.

"I miss you too, buddy" Ethan said. They said goodbye to each other and while Sam crawled back into the bed, Molly took the phone back.

"I'll be back soon, I promise" Ethan said.

"You said the same thing a month ago" Molly pointed out.

"Goodnight Molly" Ethan said hanging up. Molly threw her cell phone on the couch and went to bed. She laid next to her nephew and hugged him tight, smiling happily at the sleeping boy. She loved her little boy and didn't want to lose the last part she had of Melissa.

* * *

_I just love Sammy.  
That was random. But I am random.  
So, review? Just remember that I love you and that you're beautiful :3 (random, again, but who cares!)  
_


	11. Parenthood

_Okay, something is wrong with my email. I received two emails telling me that the last chapter had just two reviews, I checked and the chapter actually had six reviews. So, something's wrong and I'm not receiving alerts about reviews, PMs, anything. I don't know if something's wrong with my email or the site. Well, I'll figure it out, at least I don't have any problem updating the story :D  
_  
_Weeeell, thank you so much for your reviews, I love reading them! Enjoy this chapter :)_

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own BBC's characters but I own my characters (old and new hehe).  
__**A/N:** English is ____not my first language_ and this chapter was not beta'd.

* * *

Sherlock tried his best with Sam. He knew he was important for Molly and he actually liked the boy. He was silent and he liked to observe him when he was thinking and even if sometimes he was too much active, Sherlock didn't mind having him around. He realized the child's mind was very open and he somehow felt connected to Sam.

It was a warm afternoon of August when Sherlock agreed to go to the park. He really didn't like open places, especially the park, but Sam wanted to play with some friends he had made over the summer and of course Molly was taking him there. Sherlock always complained about how little time Molly spent with him and she told him he had to bear with her routines if he wanted to be with her.

"I don't see what people like about playing in the park" he said, his arms lying open on the bench, Molly laughing beside him.

"It's good fun. That's what kids love to do" Molly replied.

"It's boring" Sherlock said. Molly shook her head, laughing and in that moment a woman approached them.

"Molly!" she said, pushing a stroller. Molly's face lit up as she stood up and hugged her friend. At least, Sherlock deduced she was.

"Anna! I wasn't expecting to see you here" she said, kissing her cheeks.

"It's time baby Ed sees the light" she answered, showing Molly the baby in the stroller. Molly smiled when she saw the little boy move animatedly.

"He's so cute" she said. Anna smiled and then saw Sherlock sitting in the same bench where Molly was before. Molly noticed where she was looking and took a few steps back.

"Oh, Anna, this-this is Sherlock. Sherlock, this is Anna" she said introducing them. They both shook hands.

"Nice to meet you" Anna said politely, trying to hide her smirk. Of course she knew who he was.

"Nice to meet you, too" Sherlock said, trying to hide his fake smile.

"Anna is Matthew's mother, you know, Sam's friend" Molly explained. Sherlock simply nodded. No, he really didn't like parks. Molly quickly turned towards Anna who was now picking up Ed.

"Would you like to hold him?" Anna asked. Sherlock saw something new in Molly's eyes, something...bright. Molly took the baby and sat down, smiling at the tiny baby.

_Three-months-old, obviously a boy. Mother's nose, father's eyebrows as they are not similar to his mother's and are more butch. Right handed. Very active child._ Sherlock thought that maybe parks weren't that bad. It kept his mind trained. Anna's phone suddenly rang.

"Oh God, sorry, I have to pick this" she said getting up. Molly kept her smile on her face, playing with the boy's hand. Sherlock looked at her and quickly deduced her. It wasn't that hard.

_Holds the baby carefully, afraid to drop him. Bright eyes, which means extreme happiness. There's also sadness. Must be the sister's unborn child. Big smile. Soft voice. Loves the baby's hand, smiles even brighter when the boy grabs her fingers. Very happy indeed._ His mind stopped for a moment. _Children: are they part of making people you care about happy? _He shook that thought away and hid it in a corner in his mind palace, under the "How to make Molly happy" folder.

"You look happy" he said. Molly almost jumped, as if she forgot he was there with her.

"Oh, well, babies always make me happy. They're...cute" she replied and cursed herself for saying cute. Sherlock believed that word was utterly useless.

"I believe they are what you call cute" he replied, taking her by surprise. Molly kept her eyes on the baby who was now peacefully sleeping in her arms.

"You have a magic touch, I see" he said.

"It seems so. When Sam was a baby, Melissa often asked me to help her. I always managed to calm him down" she replied and the sadness Sherlock saw before was now covering every piece of joy.

"I'm sorry" he said. She understood he was talking about the unborn baby.

"No it's okay. I mean, it's going to be okay" she said, holding back her tears. It wasn't that hard, the baby's voice put joy back into her eyes. Anna came back and took back her baby, leaving the two of them alone since she preferred to walk around the park. Molly leaned on Sherlock's shoulder and watched Sam play with Matthew. Sherlock could feel Molly thinking and smiled.

"What are you thinking of?" he asked.

"Sam. He looks happy. He has friends here" she said.

"You have friends here, too" he pointed out. He wanted her to remember that she had friends there and that she didn't have to go back to her home town to find some.

"I know. I just think that it's good that he has friends here" she said. Sherlock didn't quite understand what she was trying to say but was glad he needn't to ask, as Molly got up and fetched Sam, heading back home.

* * *

Molly decided dinner with everyone was a good idea. She invited Sherlock, John, Lestrade and Mrs. Hudson over to her place for dinner and Sam was quite happy to have so many people around. Her apartment wasn't that big but her table had enough places for all of them. Sam helped his aunt cooking dinner and he happily set the table. Around seven, the doorbell rang.

"Am I early?" Greg asked as Molly opened the door.

"No, no, come in!" she said stepping apart. Lestrade smiled and when she closed the door, he handed her a bottle of wine he had brought a few hours before.

"Oh thank you! I've just finished it" Molly said, taking it.

"We can't have dinner without wine" he said. Sam suddenly appeared next to Lestrade and dragged him by his coat towards the couch. There, he picked up a book that Molly had bought him the day before and showed it to him. Molly observed the two and saw how good Lestrade was with children. It never crossed her mind before that day.

"Greg, do you have any children?" she asked.

"Yes, two. A boy and a girl. Well, actually, they're both off to university" he replied. Molly poured the wine in two glasses and handed one to Greg, sitting in a chair next to them.

"I didn't know you had children. What are they like?" she asked.

"They're really mature for their age, actually. Ewan is 25 years old and is studying physics at the Oxford University. Anne on her side wants to be like me. She's 21 and she's at the Academy now" Greg said.

"You and your wife must be so proud" Molly exclaimed.

"I am but Jenny isn't happy with Anne's choice. I think that's why we divorced, she thought I brought nothing but trouble" he said, sipping his wine.

"Oh, so you divorced?" Molly asked.

"Yeah, three months ago" Greg answered, smiling. He didn't look sad about it. The doorbell rang again and Molly opened the door, the rest of her guests coming in.

"Oh, what a lovely place" Mrs. Hudson said, putting her jacket on the hanger. Sherlock immediately took Molly by the waist and kissed her. She did not expect him to show his feelings so much but she didn't mind. No, she really didn't mind.

"You smell nice" he said. Molly gave him a curious look and laughed.

"Thanks, I guess" she replied, walking towards the kitchen. "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes". Mrs. Hudson followed Molly and helped her while the boys, as Mrs. Hudson kept calling them, took their places around the table. Sherlock and Lestrade both sat at the heads of the tables, while John sat next to Sherlock. He expected Sam to wait for Molly to sit down to take his own place but instead he sat between John and Lestrade, smiling happily. Molly and Mrs. Hudson joined them a few minutes later, with dinner and wine. A few meals later, everyone was talking animatedly when Sherlock noticed that Lestrade was playing with Sam.

"Why are you practising with kids now that you're divorced, Lestrade?" Sherlock asked, drinking his wine. Greg sighed and smiled down at Sam who was now giggling.

"I don't need any practice, I already have children" he replied and prepared himself for the next question.

"Do you?" Sherlock asked, quite shocked. So was John.

"Yes, I do. Ewan and Anne, he's studying physics and she's studying to be an Inspector, just like her father" Lestrade answered, smiling proudly.

"You're joking" Sherlock said.

"Nope".

"Why would your daughter want to be like you?".

"Because maybe I was good enough as a father for her to look up to".

"Children don't want to look up to their parents".

"I don't expect you to understand and hopefully never will". The room fell silent for a moment, Lestrade biting his lower lip, Mrs. Hudson giving him a 'what-have-you-done' look and Sherlock staring at him. John was the only one who was looking at Molly. Sam just didn't understand what was going on. Molly carefully put her glass on the table, Sherlock now looking at her. _Children again_, he thought.

"I mean..." Lestrade began but Molly's phone rang and almost everyone let out a sigh of relief. Molly picked it up and tried to sound cheerful.

"Hi, Ethan" Molly said, answering the call. Sam's eyes lit up.

"Daddy!" he yelped, jumping up and reaching Molly. He waited impatiently, bouncing on his feet.

"Oh, really? That's good! I'm happy for you. Yeah, Sam's here" she said and handed the cell phone to Sam, ruffling his hair. "It's dad".

"Daddy!" Sam said happily, taking the phone. He sat on the couch and Molly went back to the table.

"It's Ethan. He finally found a job and a new home near London" she announced, glad she had something to talk about.

"Oh, that's good! Where?" John asked.

"Crawley, it's an hour from here and it's still close to Brighton, Sam won't be that far from his grandma" she said quite happily.

"Do Ethan's parents live near Brighton?" John asked.

"No, actually, they live in Coventry. They don't get to see Sam often" she answered. Sam appeared near to Molly and handed her the cell phone back, smiling.

"What did dad tell you?" she asked.

"He said he found a new home but it's not that far from Brighton" he replied. "I'm going to miss my friends but I'll make new ones! Dad sounded happy".

"Good. Go back to your seat" she said and Sam obeyed, jumping into his chair. Mrs. Hudson suddenly stood up and told everyone she had brought a cake she'd made that afternoon and everyone was more than happy to have still place in their stomach for a slice of cake.

Around midnight, everyone was slowly making their way out of the door, John yawning.

"Thanks for dinner, Molly, it was delicious" John said, his eyes sleepy.

"It was my pleasure. I'm glad you enjoyed it" she replied.

"Oh, dear, could you please help me?" Mrs. Hudson suddenly said appearing behind John. "I think Inspector Lestrade is a little bit...too drunk. He's singing". John turned around and saw Lestrade make his way down the stairs, staggering and singing.

"Uhm, I better help him. Goodnight Molly" he said running after his drunk friend. Mrs. Hudson kissed both her cheeks and left, telling Sherlock they would wait for him downstairs. Sherlock took his coat and stood in front of Molly.

"I think you should hurry up and help John with Greg" she said laughing. Sherlock frowned hearing Lestrade's first name.

"He surely doesn't need my help, he's capable of doing it alone" he answered. He put his coat on and kissed her goodnight but before turning around, he stopped.

"Molly...about what Lestrade said earlier, at dinner...about...you know, children..." he began but Molly interrupted him, placing her hands on his chest. She was almost panicking.

"There's nothing to talk about, Sherlock. Really" she said, giving him one of her best smiles. He smiled back but he was unsure and Molly noticed it. "Anyway, it's not something we should talk about on my doorstep when you're about to leave!" she added.

"You looked upset" he insisted. Molly sighed and fixed his collar.

"It's way too early to talk about children, don't you think?" she asked and Sherlock nodded. She leaned in and gave him a quick but soft kiss on the lips. "Goodnight, Sherlock".

"Goodnight Molly" he said and almost ran downstairs, where Greg was now lying in the cab, his friends waiting for him. Molly locked the door and tidied up the kitchen. After brushing her teeth and putting her pyjama on, she slipped into bed next to Sam. He had fallen asleep on the couch almost two hours before and Mrs. Hudson had helped her to put him to bed. He was sleeping soundly. She put her arms around his little body and rested her head above his.

"Sweet dreams, my boy" she whispered, falling asleep.

* * *

_Ooooh, Sherlock asking about babies :3  
I don't know if Sherlock is too OOC but I hope not. If he is, forgive me! Like someone said in a review a while ago, Sherlock is going to be a bit OOC if he's going to feeeeeel something ;)  
See ya next chapter, folks!  
_


	12. Scream, Leave and Remember Me

_I thought that my email was still broken because I got just two reviews for last chapter but this time it was real, lol_

_I know the last chapter didn't have many Sherlolly moments, right now I'm focusing more on Molly's life (she's much easier to write and as I said before, I love her character!) so the Sherlolly moments might not be a lot but there are always some.  
I just hope you're going to like this chapter better than the last one :)_

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own BBC's characters but I own my characters.  
__**A/N:** English is ____not my first language_ and this chapter was not beta'd.

* * *

When Ethan called a few days later, he told Sam he was coming to pick him up in two days to finally take him home. He had begun to move the week before and still had a few things to pack. He couldn't touch Melissa's belongings.

"I need to ask you a favour" he said on the phone. Molly was sitting on the couch with the phone near her ear. Sam was on her bed with Toby and he was telling him how he was finally going home.

"Okay" she answered.

"Would you mind...coming with us?" he asked. Molly didn't quite understand what he meant. Did he want someone to keep him company during the journey? Did he want her to be near him? Did he want her to move in with them?  
"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I was planning to ask you to move in with us but I know you're not going to leave him, even if I believe that you'll end up dead if you stay around him any longer" he answered honestly, Molly sighing on the other end. "But I want you to help me with...with _her_ things. I couldn't pack them. I...I don't know what to do with her things, maybe there's something you'd like to keep, maybe...".

"I'll help you" Molly quickly said. For a long time, she had forgotten about Melissa's belongings. What were they going to do with them? She would bring something to her mother, Ethan was surely going to keep something and so would she. But they couldn't keep everything, they had to throw away some things. Ethan thanked her and she suggested for them to rent a car there in London so she could use it to visit her mother on her way back to give her some of Melissa's belongings. Ethan agreed.

That evening, Molly took Sam to Baker Street; he wanted to say goodbye to everyone, since it was his last night there.

"Are you happy that you're finally going home?" John asked, caressing the boy's head.

"Yes! Dad says we have a garden, we didn't have one before! It's going to be okay and auntie promised me that she is going to play with me when we arrive!" he replied and Sherlock looked at him.

"When _we_ arrive?" he repeated.

"Oh, yes, I'm leaving with them. Ethan asked me to go with them, I'll be gone for three days at most" she replied. Sherlock did not react as she thought.

"I don't understand why you're going with them. It doesn't make sense" Sherlock pointed out.

"It makes for me, Sherlock. It's just a few days, I'm not leaving for good, I'm just going away for a few days" she underlined.

"You didn't ask me if I was okay with it, though" he answered back.

"Oh, now I have to ask you if I can leave?" she asked, incredulous.

"Isn't that what people do when they're in a relationship?" he asked.

"You never tell me when you leave, John has to text me to tell me that you're alive and away!" she almost shouted. John took Sam's hand and smiled.

"Mrs. Hudson is downstairs, we should go and greet her. She can't come upstairs, her hip is hurting her and she prefers to rest" John said, interrupting them.

"Okay" Sam said, confused. He knew what fighting meant, his parents did fight sometimes but he still didn't like it. John shot a glance to Sherlock but he ignored it. As soon as the door closed, Molly let out a breath.

"You could've warned me that you were going with them" Sherlock said, turning around.

"I just did, Sherlock! I came here because Sam wanted to see you again and I wanted to tell you that I was going with them and that's what I just did!" she replied.

"I still don't get why you want to go with them, it's a waste of time" he said. John entered the room silently, thinking it was for the best for him to stay around. Sam was downstairs with Mrs. Hudson.

"It's not a waste of time, I have to help Ethan with Melissa's belongings, I want to keep some of them" she answered, crossing her arms.

"Can't you just ask him to send you whatever it is that you want to keep?" he asked throwing his arms in the air, his voice showing how upset he was. "I need you here".

"No you don't, you're just mad that someone can leave without asking your permission, just like you do" she said. That's what John loved about Molly; she wasn't afraid of telling him the truth.

"That's not true!".

"You always leave without telling me! You just disappear and don't even bother to warn me".

"I leave because I have to, cases involve movements, I don't just wander off because I want to! What if I get a case where there's extreme need of your knowledge or your lab? Investigations could be put on hiatus just because you're having fun with your happy family!".  
"For God's sake Sherlock, my sister is dead!". Molly had shouted and John shook his head. She was breathing hard, tears in her eyes. "I'm not leaving because I want to have fun. My sister is dead, that's not something that makes my family happy. I want to go with them. I need to be there because that place is all I have left of my sister. I need...I need to feel her close again. I just...". Sherlock looked at her. She was now crying and she wasn't trying to stop her tears from falling.

"...I just hoped you would understand. I need you to understand" she finished.

"I don't understand feelings" he admitted. John was now feeling out of place and slowly made his way to the door.

"No, don't leave John" Molly said. He obeyed, feeling awkward. "A few days ago you were asking me about children and now you can't even understand why I need to do this. I thought you wanted to try this".

"This was my intention but it's not something I'm used to, Molly. I still try to find logic in all of this and you can't ask me to change" he replied, his hands now behind his back. Molly almost felt her chest being hit by a stone.

"You said was" she said.

"What?" Sherlock asked, not expecting such a phrase from her now.

"You said that this was your intention, like it's something you don't want anymore" she replied, sniffing. John wished he could just turn back time and explain Sherlock how to behave. "I'm not asking you to change, to understand what people need doesn't usually change people".

"But I'm not most people" Sherlock answered.

"I know" she replied. "I'm going to get Sam now. We're leaving tomorrow morning". She took her and Sam's jacket and reached the door, John stepping aside.

"Goodnight. See you" she said, running downstairs. John closed the door and stood in front of his friend, arms crossed.

"What is it now?" Sherlock asked, annoyed.

"What the hell was that?" John asked, pointing to the door.

"You were here the whole time, you know what happened" he replied.

"Sherlock, that was really bad. Why did you tell her all those things about how she had to tell you she was leaving and if you were okay with that?".

"People who care about each other usually let the other know when they're going away, isn't that what you used to do whenever we left? Text your girlfriend about your whereabouts?".

"Yes but you never do".

"Because I know you do it for me, what's the point of sending two identical text messages?".  
"God, Sherlock, why are you this dumb when it comes to human beings? I send Molly text messages because I know you always forget to do it!". For a few moments, there was silence and they could hear Mrs. Hudson shouting goodbye to a cab that was already on its way. Then, John spoke again.

"You need to fix this, Sherlock, and you need to understand. Molly loved her sister, they were close and she needs to feel her again. She lost her in such a brutal way, she never got the chance to give her a proper goodbye".

"I screwed up, didn't I?". Sherlock wasn't the kind of person to use such words but sometimes, he was just being human. Well, the most human he could be.

"A lot. But you can fix this".

"Should I go with her?".

"What? No. Give her some space. Wait for her to return and in the meantime, think about what Molly was trying to tell you. Think about how you can understand her better". John patted his shoulder, smiling.

"Next time, find a better way to tell her you're going to miss her" he added and went to his room. Sherlock took the violin and immediately started playing it, stopping a few times to write down the notes he was creating. He played for the entire night and in the morning John found his friend still composing.

* * *

"So you finally broke up?" Ethan asked. Molly gasped and looked up. They were in the car and for ten minutes they stayed silent. Ethan suddenly decided to bring up the subject. Molly looked at Sam in the back seat and he just made himself little.

"Yes, Sam told me. So, changing your mind, huh? Moving in with us?" he asked.

"I'm not leaving my job in London" she answered.

"So you did broke up" Ethan said. He felt kind of guilty for feeling almost happy at the thought of the breakup. But Melissa hit his mind and guilty was there no more.

"No, we didn't. We just had a fight" she answered.

"A bad one" Sam almost whispered.

"Why are you staying with him?" Ethan asked and turned the music on. "He's the reason your sister's dead". He almost whispered, he didn't want Sam to hear.

"It wasn't his fault and I love him".

"How can you love someone like him? He's selfish and arrogant and stubborn!".

"Yes, he is, but that's just what people see. He has a big heart. He faked his death because he wanted to protect his friends, he cares about people. Why would he solve crimes if he didn't care? Yes, he loves to solve puzzles but he still wants people to be safe, he wouldn't risk so much if he didn't care. He's an immature child sometimes but he's trying to learn how to deal with people better. It's just hard for him".

"You're always going to defend him, aren't you?".

"That's what people do when they love someone".

"I guess I should give him a second chance. Not any time soon, but maybe one day. It looks like he'll be around Sam very often". Molly couldn't hold back her smile and for a brief moment she rested her hand on Ethan's. For the rest of the journey, they sang along with Sam.

Molly remembered her sister's house very well, it was a nice place. She felt shivers run down her back when she entered the living room. Everything smelled of Melissa. Sam ran to his room and jumped on his bed. Molly followed Ethan in his and Melissa's room but he stood in front of the door.  
"It's time, Ethan" she said. He shook his head.

"I...I can't. It was hard enough to enter and pack my stuff without seeing her stuff. She's all over that room, she's in here but...she's not here" he replied. Molly took his hand and opened the door. Ethan wasn't used to this kind of feeling but Molly was. She and Melissa packed their dad's belongings when he died, she knew how it felt like to walk into a dead's room. She felt her heart rip in two when she saw her clothes and books but she didn't stop. She dragged Ethan into the room and made him sit on the bed. She carefully took a book from Melissa's nightstand and put it in his hands. He was crying.

"She loved this book...she read it almost every month" he said. Molly squeezed his hands and looked around, taking some of her clothes. She had learned that she had to pack everything without taking a break. She picked up some clothes and then looked for a bag.

"We should decide what to do with her clothes. I was thinking that we could give them away, I know some people that collect clothes for the poor" she said.

"I don't know how you manage to do this without breaking down, Molls" he said, the book still in his hands.

"Melissa and I had to pack dad's things when he died. It took us days because we just couldn't stop crying whenever we took something that brought back memories. Then, we learned that if we just packed everything without stopping, we could cope with his death better" she answered, sitting down. He wiped away his tears, nodding. He left the book on the bed and got up.

"I think that's a good idea, to give her clothes away" he said. Molly smiled, taking a jacket from a chair.

"I'd like to keep this. It's very old, when Melissa bought it I always tried to steal it because I loved this jacket" she said.

"You can keep whatever you want. I'm already keeping too many things" he said.

"What are you keeping?" she asked.

"A couple of books, her CDs, pictures of course and a few of her favourite objects. I'm giving most of her certificates and awards to your mom" he answered.

"That's good, mom has a little room for these things. She keeps all dad's awards and medals there" Molly said. The box destined to Jennifer was quickly filled and Molly prepared her own box. She kept a few clothes, pictures Ethan didn't mind giving away and a few necklaces and earrings. She noticed that Ethan was wearing a necklace too, a little chain where he had Melissa's wedding ring.

"Oh, there's a book left" she said, picking up the book on the bed. She handed it to Ethan but he stopped.

"No. Keep it. I want you to have it" he said.

"Are you sure? You said it was her favourite book" she protested.

"I know. I have many memories of her, I don't need this too. Keep it" he said and Molly nodded, putting it into her box. The room was quickly emptied and so was the rest of the house. Sam was in the car with his things while Molly and Ethan were taking the last boxes. They were standing in the hall, looking around. The house was now completely empty.

"So that's how an old life ends" he said, sighing.

"A new one is waiting for you. I know it's not what you wanted but Melissa would want us to live and remember her" she said, taking his hand. Ethan quickly hugged her and then took the boxes. He locked the door and put the boxes in the trunk.

"Let's go home" he said.

* * *

_I like to focus on Molly's life, I think it's important to show how she's dealing with her sister's death.  
So, review, pleeeeeeease? You get biscuits if you do ;)_

I love you, my readers, and thank you for reading :D  



	13. Ghosts From the Past

_Thank you all for the reviews, I really appreciate your feedback!_

_If any of you actually watched BBC's Merlin (oh God, past tense, I'm still not over it!), you'll notice that there's a reference to the show in this chapter. Let's see if you notice it.. (it's quite easy for the Merlinians, lol)_

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own BBC's characters but I own my characters.  
__**A/N:** English is ____not my first language_ and this chapter was not beta'd.

* * *

Molly stayed with Ethan and Sam for the night and the day after she left and went back to Brighton. She didn't mind travelling so much, it gave her time to think. She had to give her mother her sister's belongings and she decided she was going to stay with her for the entire day.

When she arrived, she found her mother working in the garden, pulling out some wild plants.

"Hi mom" she said, stepping on the grass with the box in her hands. Jennifer looked up and ran to her only daughter, hugging her tight.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I helped Ethan with the removal and I took some of Melissa's things. We think you should keep these. It's all inside this box" she said. Jennifer took the box and led her daughter inside. They had tea and talked about the past, crying and laughing.

"Oh, I remember when she won this award. It was her last year in High School. She was so happy" Jennifer said, putting the award on a shelf. Molly was helping her with Melissa's stuff and each award brought back some good memory.

"She was always happy" Molly said, sighing. Jennifer took her hand and squeezed it.

"Yes, she was" she replied. Molly hugged her mother and they both cried silently.

Jennifer was more than happy that her daughter was staying over for the night and asked her if she could stay one day more. Molly agreed, not feeling like going back to London.

When she slipped under the covers that night, her phone buzzed.

_When are you coming back? - JW_

She smiled and answered quickly.

_The day after tomorrow. Mom asked me to stay one day more – MH_

John didn't take long to answer.

_He misses you, even if he won't admit it. I'll see you in two days then. Good night – JW_

She put her phone back on the nightstand and fell asleep rather quickly.

When she woke up the next day, she felt happy. She was in her old house, she was home. The sun outside was warm and she felt at peace with herself. As soon as she reached her mother in the kitchen, she felt happy again. She had missed her mother's breakfast.

"The Johnson are coming over this afternoon" her mother told her. Molly's happiness quickly faded away. The Johnson were old family friends, they were surely coming over to give once again their condolences to them. She used to date their son, Charlie.

"Oh, good" she said, sitting down. She took her coffee and waited for her mother to say what she had to say.

"Charlie is coming as well" she finally said. Molly sighed.

"Good, I haven't seen him in almost six years" she replied.

"I think he still fancies you, when I told him you were here this morning he sounded happy" Jennifer said.

"Well, I don't fancy him anymore. I have Sherlock" she replied, quite annoyed.

"You know you won't have any of this, right?" Jennifer said. "You're not going to have a normal life, a house where to wait for your husband, a family to look after. Sherlock can't give you all of this. A man like Charlie can".

"I'm not going to have a family anyway, mom!" Molly shouted, tears in her eyes.

"I didn't mean that, honey" her mother said calmly.

"I know but this is my reality and all I want is what Sherlock can give me. I don't need any of those ordinary things" Molly said. Jennifer decided it was better to talk about something else.

She spent the rest of the day in the house, walking around remembering her past and enjoying the warm weather. After lunch, Molly was getting ready to leave when the Johnson came. She had decided to go home early. She was getting her things back in the car when they arrived, waving. Molly closed the car and sighed.

"Molly! Oh, it's so good to see you again, it's been years!" Mrs. Johnson said, hugging her. "Too bad we see you again in this circumstance".

"It's good to see you too" she replied. She quickly hugged Mr. Johnson and then, he appeared. Charlie was a tall, brown haired, man, quite a handsome guy. He smiled down at her and awkwardly hugged her.

"Hi" they both said. Jennifer called them from inside and Mr. and Mrs. Johnson entered the house, leaving her alone with Charlie. _He hasn't changed,_ she thought.

"I'm sorry for your sister" he said and she just gave him a quick nod. "It's still good to see you".

"It's been a while, huh?" she found herself saying, smiling.

"Yeah, too many years" he said.

"So...what are you doing now?" she asked.

"Oh I'm a lawyer, I work here in Brighton".

"So you did it, at last. That's good!".

"And you? I know you moved to London".

"I'm a pathologist at St. Bart's. It's a good job and I'm happy there".

"Good, that's good. So, how's life in London?".

"It's great, actually. I never get bored".

"Yeah, I bet you don't. Uhm, well, are you-are you married? Maybe you even have children!".

"No, I don't have any children, just a lovely nephew, Melissa's son".

"Oh, Sam. I saw him sometimes, with her. He's nice".

"I have a boyfriend, though, and I'm happy with him".

"Oh. Good". She felt awkward and she just wanted to go back to London. "I should leave, I have to go back home" she added.  
"Yeah. Your boyfriend must be missing you" he said. She sighed and gave him a quick peck on the cheek but he actually went for a hug. She smiled and patted his back, stepping back and going inside to tell everyone she was leaving. Her mother didn't look happy but she let her go. She promised to visit often and when she left, she still felt awkward. That whole meeting was awkward. But she quickly forgot about it when she reached London. She was back. She left the car back at the place where they rent it and she walked back to her apartment. She was glad it wasn't that far away, she had her bag and the box to carry and it wasn't that easy to walk. When she entered her flat, she turned the light on and almost dropped her box. She jumped, hit the door and managed to keep the box still in her arms.

"Hello Molly" Sherlock said. He was sitting on the couch, his hands near his lips.

"How did you get in here?" she asked, closing the door.

"I asked your landlord" he simply answered.

"Oh, yes, of course" she replied with sarcasm and put the box on the ground along with her bag. Sherlock got up and reached her, Molly looking at him daringly. He stared at her for a few moments and then sighed.

"I'm sorry. I truly am. What I said the other day was hurtful and I should've listened to you. I'm sorry I didn't understand. I'd like to try again" he said, taking her hands.

"You really did hurt me, Sherlock. I know you're not used to these kind of situations but that doesn't mean you can go around and hurt people's feelings. Because we all do have feelings" she protested.

"I'll try my best to behave next time. And to understand" he said, smiling.

"Good. And I'm not apologizing for how I've reacted" she said and he laughed.

"I wasn't expecting you to apologize" he said and leaned in to kiss her but stopped halfway. He bended his head towards the right and smelt her perfume. He stood straight and looked at her with suspicious eyes.

"You're wearing cologne" he stated.

"I know for sure that I don't" she answered back.

"I can smell it, Molly, it's a male perfume" he said and she laughed.

"Did you forget that I spent the last days with Ethan and Sam? Last time I checked they're both males" she said.

"Ethan doesn't wear this kind of perfume, I know for certain" he said almost angrily. Molly smiled.

"I don't know if I should be more concerned about the fact that you smelled my brother-in-law or that you're showing your jealous side quite badly" she said.

"I'm not jealous, I'm just stating a fact. This is not Ethan's perfume" he insisted. Molly was about to answer back when Charlie popped into her mind. Her mouth opened in a small "Oh".

"What?" he asked.

"Today I saw some old friends. I hugged them, that might be their perfume".

"What kind of friends?".

"Family friends. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and their son".

"How old is this son?".

"He's 35 now, I guess".

"You had a relationship with him". That wasn't a question.

"Well...yes, but that was many years ago". Sherlock let go of her and stepped back, his face showing some of his feelings he was trying to hide.

"You stayed at your mother's one day more than necessary and you spent it with you ex-boyfriend?" he asked.

"My mother asked me to stay because she wanted me there and the Johnson just wanted to drop by and say their condolences. Charlie was there, I just hugged him, he's an old family friend and I usually hug people that are or were close to me" she explained, slipping her arms around his waist, pulling him closer. He didn't hug her back and she laughed.

"Don't deny it now, you're jealous" she said. Sherlock finally wrapped his arms around her and pulled her even closer.

"Of course I am, you're my woman" he said and kissed her deeply. Molly put her hands behind his neck, her fingers soon entwining in his curls. He lowered his arms and picked her up without breaking the kiss. "And I missed you". She laughed when he led her towards her bedroom.

* * *

Sherlock stayed for the night and Molly happily woke up in his arms. She buried her face into his embrace and smiled. He was all she needed. Strangely enough, Sherlock didn't wake up and she thought about waking him but then thought she would rather enjoy his sleepy presence.

An hour later they both finally woke up and Molly made breakfast. Sherlock kept kissing her neck while she was trying to cook and she laughed, turning around.

"Stop this, Sherlock! If you don't leave me cook in peace, you'll get no food" she said, pointing the spoon she was holding to him.

"You're threatening me with a spoon?" he asked. Molly looked at the object she was holding and smiled. She turned around and finished cooking, Sherlock sitting on the table, reading the newspaper he managed to get somewhere. He didn't actually eat much but Molly appreciated that he at least tried. After breakfast, Molly went to her neighbour and took Toby back. Sherlock was still reading the newspaper when Molly knelt down and sat on the floor, opening the box. The noise of her opening the box caught Sherlock's attention and she sighed, taking a picture. Sherlock put the newspaper down and looked at her carefully.

"Are those Melissa's belongings?" he asked and Molly nodded.

"Yeah. That's a picture of her, at the beach. I always liked this picture" she said. Sherlock got up and sat beside her, crossing his legs. Molly looked at him, confused and shocked.

"Tell me about her" he said once again. Molly smiled warmly.

"This was taken in Italy, somewhere near Venice, I can't remember the name. They wanted to do a family trip and they took me along. Sam was two years old. I don't travel that much, well, actually that was the first and only time I've been out of England" she said. She put the picture back down and took another one, tears in her eyes, smile on her face.

"This was taken on Sam's fifth birthday. He was obsessed with volcanoes and asked for a volcano cake. Melissa managed to get one but it actually exploded when he was about to blow out the candles. We were all covered with pieces of cake and took this picture. It was a good day" she explained. Sherlock put his arm around her waist and hugged as she kept talking. She told him about her childhood with Melissa and some funny facts. When she finished her story, Sherlock took the first picture she had showed him and got up. Molly watched him as he put it on a shelf near the door.

"I like it there" Molly said. Sherlock smiled and turned around. He helped her up and embraced her.

"Thank you" she whispered into his chest. He kissed her head and kept her closer, closer than ever.

* * *

_So, got the Merlin reference? :D_  
_I hope you liked this chapter, I really enjoyed writing it :3_  
_See you next chapter, lovely people!_


	14. A Switch of Partners

_YAY, most of you got the Merlin reference :D I think I'm going to put more fandoms reference in this story but for now, no references!  
_

_I'm so sorry for updating so late, my parents and I are re-painting the whole house, it's a looong work! But I promise you that I'm going to update tomorrow or the day after tomorrow :)  
Enjoy this chapter!_

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own BBC's characters but I own my characters. Oh and Sir ACD obviously does own his characters and a new one I'm introducing here.  
__**A/N:** English is ____not my first language_ and this chapter was not beta'd.

* * *

_TEN MONTHS LATER_

Molly was looking at her reflection in the mirror, not quite satisfied with what she was seeing.

"I really don't get why you keep saying it doesn't fit you, red perfectly suits you!" Mary said.

"I don't know…I think it makes me look fatter" Molly pointed out.

"Oh, come on. You're not fat" Mary said, smiling. "I bet your boyfriend is going to love to see you with this dress on!".

"I'm not buying this to please him" Molly said. Mary frowned and realized how much Molly had changed. Molly had casually met Mary in that shop; they were high school classmates but lost contact when Molly moved to London. Mary had recently moved to London and was happy to see her old friend again.

"Really?" she asked. "And why not?".

"He's…not quite the normal type of boyfriend. It's complicate" Molly answered.

"Are you happy with him?" Mary asked, wondering if this man she was talking about was good enough for her.

"Oh, yes, very much. Don't worry, I'm fine" Molly said and put her hands on her hips.

"Buy it. You look lovely" Mary said. Molly smiled and nodded, changing into her normal clothes. She bought a couple of dresses and went to a bar with Mary. They had a lot to talk about.

"Oh and how's Melissa doing? Does she still live in Brighton?" Mary asked. Molly looked down, feeling sad whenever Melissa was mentioned.

"She died last year. Actually, in two days it'll be a year" Molly said and Mary covered her mouth, shocked.

"I'm so sorry, Molly, I didn't know. But…how? Was she…sick?" she asked, not sure if she could ask more questions.

"No, she's been murdered. It's a long story" Molly said and Mary took her hand, showing her understanding.

"Tell me about your boyfriend then!" Mary said, changing the subject quickly.

"Oh well, he's-" Molly was about to tell her everything when someone called her across the street.

"Molly! Molly!" John shouted. He approached her, panting.

"John! What is it, something happened?" she asked. John took a few moments before talking again.

"Sherlock…he…he got himself arrested" he said.

"Why?" Molly asked. Even if she didn't know what was going on, Mary found it surprising how calm she was.

"It was part of his plan, he needed to find more information about one of the prisoners. Can you go and fetch him? I'm late for work – again" John said.

"Of course" Molly said and saw how John immediately landed his eyes on Mary. "Oh, sorry, my manners. John, this is Mary Morstan, an old friend of mine. Mary, this is John Watson".

"My pleasure" John said, shaking her hand.

"Watson…the John Watson? Holmes' blogger?" Mary asked.

"Oh, so someone actually remembers me as a blogger and not a bachelor" he said laughing. "That's me".

"Nice to meet you" Mary said. John stared at her for a while but then went back to reality.

"I have to go now, I'll see you tonight. Hope to see you soon, Mary" John said.

"Same for you, John" she answered and John left. She turned to face Molly, curious. "I didn't know you were friends with Sherlock Holmes and John Watson!".

"Actually, Sherlock is not just my friend" Molly replied, smiling. "He's, well, my boyfriend". Mary's jaw dropped and she laughed a bit.  
"Sherlock? Your boyfriend? I thought he was gay" Mary exclaimed.

"Yeah, that's what half of London thought. But he's not, nor is John" Molly replied.

"Oh, I get it now, that your boyfriend is not the usual boyfriend" Mary said, laughing. "Is…is John single?".

"Very much single".

"Do you mind if I come with you?".

Half an hour later, Molly was paying the bail for Sherlock who was slowly getting out of jail. As soon as the guard let him out, he snorted.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Molly asked, watching Sherlock sign the papers.

"Of course but still, there are some missing information and I need to sort them out" he replied. He suddenly realized they weren't alone.

"Sherlock, this is Mary, a friend of mine" she said, introducing them. Mary stretched her hand out and Sherlock shook it after a while.

"It's good to meet you, Mr. Holmes" Mary said, showing her teeth.

"Please, call me Sherlock. Where is John?" he asked, pulling back his hand, looking at Molly.

"He's gone to work" she answered.

"What? Oh, not again!" Sherlock whined. They walked out of the prison and Sherlock started to mumble things. He stopped a cab and almost jumped in before turning around and soundly kissing Molly on the lips.

"Thank you for the bail" he said before dropping into the cab. Molly sighed, happily, and watched him leave.

"Is he always like that?" Mary asked.

"Yeah" Molly answered, taking her friend by the arm, walking away.

* * *

A week after, Molly was sitting on her bed. It was late and she was reading the book Ethan gave her when she helped him with Melissa's things. Molly wasn't fond of romantic novels, if she was to read something she would choose a scientific book or something related with medicine. This book, though, was quite beautiful. Actually, one of the main characters was a doctor but it focused on his love life. It was a really good book and Molly started to love it. Maybe because she really liked that kind of tragic love stories or maybe because it was something that made her feel close to Melissa.

She felt two strong arms wrap around her waist and she smiled.

"What are you reading?" Sherlock asked. She showed him the cover while still reading it.

"The Orange Girl by Jostein Gaarder" she answered. Sherlock frowned, resting his head on her lap.

"I never thought you were the kind of girl who liked mawkish stories" he pointed out.

"How do you know it's a mawkish one?" Molly asked.

"You showed me the back of the cover, I know how to read, you know" he replied. Molly closed the book and put it on the nightstand, caressing Sherlock's hair.

"It was Melissa's favourite book. Ethan gave it to me when he moved" she replied. Sherlock stayed silent, waiting for her to speak again.

"I miss her so much. Sometimes I just need something to feel her close again" she said. Sherlock sat up and held her in his arms.

"How was the case?" she then asked, cuddling in his arms.

"I have to admit it was very interesting, even if in the end it was banal. A policeman and a psychopath were involved into some government's plans and both were cleverly protecting each other. We handed them to Lestrade and this means I have the entire night off" Sherlock said and Molly giggled.

"Oh, do you? And what would you like to do?" she asked, kissing him. He kissed her back and smiled against her mouth.

"I have a couple of ideas in mind" he said as he kissed her neck. "Mmmh, maybe just one". Molly laughed and kissed him countless times. Sherlock was now on top of her and he let his hands travel under her clothes. Molly smiled, letting his kisses go wherever he wanted and soon clothes were on the ground.

Strangely enough, Molly was the one who woke up first. It was usually Sherlock who would wake up at strange hours, whether to run off to solve some cases or just because sleep didn't fit him. When Molly slipped out of bed she'd been careful not to wake him. She went to the bathroom, had a shower and then got dressed. As she started to make breakfast, she heard her bedroom door open.

"Good morning" she said, turning around. Sherlock had his nightgown on. Only his nightgown on.

"Good morning indeed. Do I smell breakfast?" he asked. He approached her and kissed her sweetly.

"Yes but you need a shower first" she pointed out. Sherlock smiled and stretched.

"Fair enough" he replied. He went to the bathroom and as soon as he got dressed, his phone rang.

"Can't stay for breakfast, Lestrade just called me, new case" he said, collecting his things. He sounded happy.

"Alright. Oh, don't forget that Sam's coming today" she said.

"How long is he going to stay?" he asked. It was summertime, he expected the child to stay for more than a week.

"Two weeks or more" Molly replied.

"I'll be here at 3 o'clock" he said and kissed her goodbye. Molly smiled and went back to her breakfast. She went to work and surprisingly, she didn't get bored. She never got bored, actually, but sometimes she just wanted time to pass quickly and go home and rest. She went out for lunch with Mary and was back home just in time to rest. One hour later, both Sherlock and Sam arrived.

Ethan didn't look happy when he entered Molly's apartment with Sherlock on his side. He promised to be polite, even if he really didn't like the idea of Sam liking Sherlock so much. Ethan quickly left, promising to call every day.

"So, how was school?" Molly asked.

"It was good! School is very cool and I have a lot of friends now" Sam said. It was his very first year at school and he was extremely excited.

"Oh, that's good" Molly said, sitting on the couch with him. Sherlock had taken his bags in Molly's bedroom and returned quickly to the living room, watching Molly interact with her nephew.

"I have a best buddy now, Thomas. He's like me. His mommy is gone too" he said, stroking Toby's fur. Molly wrapped her arm around his shoulders, sighing. "He says he can't remember her because she died when he was three years old. Am I going to forget my mommy too?". Molly hugged him and Toby jumped on the floor, whining.

"You won't forget her, sweetie. You just have to keep her in your heart and in your mind" Molly answered. Sam nodded and then looked at Sherlock.

"Do you remember your daddy?" he asked. Molly looked up and saw he was directing his question to Sherlock. He nodded and came closer, kneeling in front of him.

"I remember him very well, even if he died many years ago. I have little memories of him but he's in here", he pointed to his head, "in my mind. You won't forget your mother". Sam smiled and hugged Sherlock. He didn't really know how to hug kids. He got used to have Molly in his arms and he hugged a few people, but they all were adults. He patted his back, trying not to disappoint the kid. Sam smiled and started to follow Toby around, happily playing with him for a while. Sherlock sat next to Molly and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you" she whispered. He kissed the top of her head and slipped a hand on her waist.

They stayed silent for a bit, watching Sam play, when Sherlock took his phone out.

"I must go now, I have a couple of things to do" he said getting up.

"Alright. Sam, would you like to go to the park with me?" Molly asked.

"Yeah!" Sam exclaimed, very happy.

"Actually, I was thinking to take Sam with me. There is something I need to do which might require his assistance" Sherlock said, smiling.

"No, Sherlock, you're not brining him on a case" Molly warned him.

"Oh why not? Please, Sherlock, can I see you work?" Sam begged, pulling his coat.

"I don't have a case right now so I'm not taking him to work with me" Sherlock answered back.

"Why do you need him, then?" she asked, confused.

"Oh, you'll see soon enough" Sherlock answered. Molly wasn't convinced and he reached her and grabbed her hands. "I promise you he'll be safe, it's nothing dangerous. John will be there, too".

"He's out with Mary" she pointed out.

"He didn't waste time. Well, we can switch. I take John and you take Mary" Sherlock proposed.

"She's my friend but I don't fancy Mary, you know" she replied. Sherlock frowned and Molly sighed. "Alright, alright". Molly and Sam got ready and then they all went out. It didn't take much time to find John and Mary happily chatting, sitting in a bar.

"Guys! What are you doing here?" John asked when they approached them. "Hi Sam".

"We're here to propose you a switch" Sherlock said. "A switch of partners" Molly added, still not convinced.

"I need John for an hour. Can I borrow him, Mary?" Sherlock asked. He was acting way too nicely with her, Molly noticed.

"Oh. Well, if it's necessary" Mary answered.

"Very necessary" Sherlock replied. John shot him a furious glance as he got up, asking the waiter for the bill. As he paid, he gave Mary a quick kiss on the cheek and followed Sherlock and Sam away. Molly sat next to Mary, sighing.

"Are you sure they're not gay?" Mary asked.

"Sometimes, I think they are" Molly answered. Seeing Mary's worried face, she smiled. "I mean, I think sometimes they just need time to spend together. They're best friends".

* * *

_Yep, Sam's back and Mary is here!  
Thank you for reading and reviewing, my readers!  
*gently throws biscuits and love around*  
_


	15. Bagues et Bisous

_As you noticed, the book I kept mentioning re-appeared in the last chapter. It was 'The Orange Girl' by Jostein Gaarder, it's a beautiful, beautiful book, really. I suggest you read it, it's just ... magical!  
_

_Anywaaaay this is a very important chapter and I really hope you're going to like it :D_

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own BBC's characters but I own my characters. And ACD owns his own character.  
__**A/N:** English is ____not my first language_ and this chapter was not beta'd.

* * *

"Okay, Sherlock, what's going on? We're just taking Sam somewhere, aren't we? No cases or murders, right?" John asked.

"What if there's actually a case?" Sherlock asked. John grabbed his arm and stopped him, shocked.

"Are you kidding me? Sam's with us!" John almost shouted.

"Calm down, John, I was attempting to make a joke" Sherlock said.

"Well, don't. It wasn't funny" John said. Sam was looking quite confused between the two of them. He really had no idea what was going on. "So, where are we going?" John added.

"I need to choose something particularly important and I need both your help in making the right choice" Sherlock said. John took Sam by the hand and looked at Sherlock.

"Something like what?" John asked. Sherlock smirked.

"A ring" he answered. John stopped again and Sam was very confused.

"A ring? An engagement ring?" John asked and internally freaked out when Sherlock nodded. "You want to ask Molly to marry you?!".

"That's what engagement rings are for" Sherlock replied.

"What's an engagement?" Sam finally asked. John smiled down at the kid.

"An engagement is when two people who love each other are bound by marriage" Sherlock answered but when he saw Sam's confused face, he corrected himself. "When two people become husband and wife".

"Oh! That thing. That's what mom and dad wanted to do" Sam remembered, his face wearing a shade of sadness. John squeezed his hand and gave him a sympathetic smile. Sam looked up at Sherlock and smiled.

"Does this mean you're becoming my uncle?" he asked.

"You catch up quickly. Yes, that's what I'm going to be" Sherlock answered.

"If Molly's going to say yes" John pointed out, laughing. They started to walk again, Sam happily jumping at every step. John kept looking at Sherlock with amazement.

"Oh, come on John, that expression doesn't fit you well anymore" Sherlock pointed out.

"Okay. Sorry" he said, looking away, trying to hold back a very big smile. Sherlock, obviously, noticed it.

"Fine, what is it?" he asked.

"Nothing, it's just…you said that people who want to marry each other also _love_ each other" John pointed out.

"That's what marriage usually requires" Sherlock answered.

"So, do you love her?" John asked, serious. He got quite worried when Sherlock sighed.

"I believe I do" Sherlock answered. "I'm not quite sure what love is yet but Molly frequently showed me that love can give you strength, that in fact it is not a weakness but something you can lean on. She has taught me her love and since I don't see myself bounding with any other woman, I believe this is the right choice".

"I'm very pleased to hear that" John said, smiling. Sam smiled too, even if he didn't fully understand what his soon-to-be uncle said. He stared at his empty hand and then looked at how John was holding his hand. Sam quickly took hold of Sherlock's hand and smiled to himself. Sherlock almost jumped in surprise when he felt his tiny hand slip into his own. He instinctively thought about retreating his hand but decided not to; Sam was going to be part of those few people he was going to have physical contact with.

When they reached the jewellery, Sherlock immediately asked Sam to look for a ring that Molly would like. John warily removed his hand from Sam's grip and took a mental photograph of Sherlock not letting go of Sam's hand.

"Oh, this one is pretty! But it's not good for auntie. Mmh, this is too complicated, she likes simple things" Sam said looking through the rings. John actually asked himself what was he doing there, Sam definitely was more fit for this thing. He crossed his arms and watched from behind, following them.

"This is so beautiful. Oh! Uncle! Uncle! I found the one!" he suddenly said pointing to a tiny ring. Sherlock asked John to approach them and both smiled; Sam was pointing to a very simple ring with a yellow stone stuck in the middle. It was extremely simple but extremely perfect.

"Good choice, Sam" Sherlock said. "Maybe we can change the colour of the stone".

"Oh no, don't! Auntie loves yellow stones. When she came to visit us we always went to the museum and she told me she loves yellow stones because it reminds her of the sun and it makes her happy!" Sam said, pulling Sherlock's coat.

"Yellow it is then" Sherlock said, giving Sam a sincere smile.  
When they reached the girls, Sherlock asked Sam to stop calling him uncle and not to tell the girls where they went because it had to be a surprise. Sam nodded, excited to keep a secret. John went back to his date with Mary while Sherlock went with Molly to the park and watched her interact with her nephew. He was smiling at them but his mind was planning the evening he was going to spend with Molly.

* * *

John arrived at Molly's apartment around 5 p.m. to pick Sam up.

"Thank you, John" Molly said, helping Sam with his jacket.

"My pleasure! Besides, Mary wanted to meet him properly" John said, ruffling the boy's hair. Molly gave her nephew a little peck on the cheek and smiled.

"Have fun with John and Mary. And behave" Molly said.

"I will, I will, bye auntie! Bye Sherlock!" Sam said running down the stairs. As John approached him, Sam started to point out how he remembered not to call Sherlock uncle. Molly turned around and was now face to face with Sherlock, who quickly gave her a kiss.

"I suggest you change into something more...fashionable" Sherlock said, smirking.

"Why?" Molly asked, looking at him curiously.

"I'm taking you out for dinner" he replied. Molly connected the dots in her mind and smiled.

"Did you plan this with John? Did you ask him to take Sam to the cinema in order to have dinner with me?" she asked.

"It seems you are quite right, Dr. Hooper" Sherlock replied.

"But why tonight? Sam's here for only two weeks, couldn't we wait two weeks to have dinner together?" she asked.

"This dinner can't possibly wait. Now get dressed, where we're going is no way near London".

* * *

Molly almost fainted when she saw the cab pull over the airport. _Where on earth are we going?_, she asked herself. Sherlock helped her out of the cab and led her through the airport until they reached the landing field. There was Mycroft, his usual smile on his face, standing next to an small airplane.

"I believe everything's sorted" Sherlock said when they reached him.

"Yes, everything's as you asked, brother. As always, demanding too much" Mycroft said.

"Oh I only asked what I thought was necessary" Sherlock replied.

"I'll leave you to your trip, then" Mycroft said, backing away. "Have a nice dinner, Miss Hooper".

"Thanks...I guess" Molly replied, not sure what to say. Sherlock helped her up and when the airplane took off, Molly was seriously freaking out.

"Are you alright?" Sherlock asked, noticing how nervous she was.

"I thought we were going out for dinner" Molly replied, playing with her hands.

"We are. I've told you this place is nowhere near London" Sherlock said.

"I though you were trying to make a joke or at least that it was something like Watford or Cheshunt! Where are we going, Sherlock?" Molly exclaimed, a bit scared.

"It's a surprise, Molly. It's going to take us an hour and eighteen minutes so relax" Sherlock said. Molly relaxed a bit in her seat and started to play with the laces of her yellow dress.

"You look beautiful" Sherlock said, smiling sincerely. Molly looked up and returned his smile.

"Thank you. I didn't know what kind of dress this dinner required so...I thought this one was good for different types of dinners" she replied, looking down at her dress.

"It's perfect" Sherlock said, finding it a good sign the fact that she was wearing yellow.  
One hour and ten minutes later Sherlock looked out of the window and told Molly, who was reading one of the magazines she found near her seat, to reach him. Molly sat on his lap and looked out of the window where Sherlock was pointing, feeling faint.

"That's where we're going to have dinner" he said.

"Are we...we're going...you mean...you serious?" she asked, looking at him.

"Yes I am" he replied. "And our plane is even early".

A car was waiting for them at the airport and took them where Sherlock asked with a very good French accent.

"You speak French" Molly stated, surprised.

"Mommy wanted me to learn different languages when I was a boy" Sherlock replied.

"So...you speak more than two languages?" Molly asked.

"Four if you count English. Mmh, five if you count Latin but it's a dead language so you can't properly speak it" he answered.

"Which languages do you speak?" Molly asked, intrigued.

"English, French, German and Italian. I was going to learn Chinese but I got interested in different things after a while" he answered.

"You mean you got interested in crimes or in being a pirate?" she asked. Sherlock smirked.

"_Nous sommes arriv____é__s, Monsieur_" the taxi driver said. They got off the cab and Molly looked up, startled.

"I've never been to France" she admitted. "Let alone Paris". Sherlock took her by the hand and took her to the place where they were going to have dinner. Molly opened her eyes wide and felt tears fall from her eyes. Sherlock quickly wiped them away, confusion in his eyes.

"I'm not sad. It's happy tears" she said, kissing him. She looked around and hugged him, her eyes fixed on the little table set on the centre of the terrace. Paris looked even more beautiful from the Tour Eiffel. "You did all this just for me?".

"Of course it's for you. You're my woman and my woman deserves the best" he replied. Molly giggled, excited, and let Sherlock lead her to the table. "Of course, Mycroft helped me organize all of this. I have to say it has its advantages to have your bother in the government".

There was a candle that was lighting up the table and a few musicians were playing in the corner of the terrace; a waiter served them dinner and Molly has never been this happy.

"I still can't believe you managed to get this terrace for ourselves. I mean, it's the Tour Eiffel!" she exclaimed, looking around.

"It wasn't that complicate" Sherlock said, making her smile. They ate their dessert quietly, Molly very much enjoying the breeze that was caressing her hair. It was summer and it was warm. She loved that temperature. The waiter took the plate a while after and Sherlock got up, reaching out for Molly's hand.

"Shall we dance?" he asked. Molly nodded and took his hand, getting up. He swept her around as she giggled once again and pulled her closer, resting his hand on her back. He guided her through all the dance, her head happily resting on his shoulder.

"This is perfect" she whispered.

"I'm glad you're enjoying this" he whispered back. He smiled against her hair and kissed the top of her head, stopping.

"There's still one surprise for you" he said.

"Another one? Sherlock, I seriously doubt there's something that might surprise me at this point" she said with a sweet laugh.

"Mh, I think you're wrong" he said and the little orchestra stopped playing as well. Molly didn't know what was happening but kept her eyes fixed on him.

"I'm not good with all these emotions and everyone knows it but you taught me how to love, how to...accept these feelings, to believe they're good and that they only make you stronger" he said, taking her hands with his. "You made me stronger". He was trying to say something more, Molly could see his mouth tremble, fighting some words he denied for so long. She rested her hand on his cheek, giving him her best reassuring smile, her eyes telling him how much she loved him. He rested his own hand on hers, smiling. He kissed it and put it back down. And it that moment, he knew.

"I love you, Molly Hooper" he said. Molly felt her heart jump, racing fast against her chest.

"And I love you, Sherlock Holmes" she said. For her, those words were already a surprise. Sherlock wrapped his arms around her waist and started dancing again, pulling her close to his own body.

"Molly?" he said.

"Yes?" she asked, her head resting on his shoulder with her eyes closed.

"Marry me". Molly blinked several times and opened her eyes, meeting his. Her mouth dropped open but she didn't know what to say.

"What?" she managed to say after a while.

"I believe I should do this" he asked. He reached for something in his pocket. "Molly Hooper, will you marry me?". Molly stared at the yellow ring he was holding out for her, her mouth wide open, eyes filling, once again, with happy tears. She covered her mouth with her hand and Sherlock looked at her, a bit confused. She nodded repeatedly and threw her arms around his neck.

"Yes! Yes, I will!" she kept saying. Sherlock kept her close to his heart, his arms embracing her. He then slipped the ring into her finger and kissed his soon-to-be-wife.

"Don't expect me to do this kind of thing often, it was an exception. This really is not my area" he said and Molly laughed out loud. The orchestra started to play music and her lips met his again.

* * *

_THEY'RE GETTING MARRIEEEED!  
I know the proposal was very un-Sherlock but I just needed some fluffy moments and this Sherlock is very romantic (sometimes)._

Just FYI:  
*_Nous sommes arriv____é__s, Monsieur_ = we've arrived  
*Bagues et Bisous (chapter title) = Rings and Kisses (oh, hey, I don't know if you noticed it but I love French!)

Revieeeew, please?  
Thank for reading, love you all!  



	16. In Joy or In Sorrow

_What can I say, I love your reviews and I love the fact that every time I update, there's a new follower! YAY!  
_

_I know that in English 'Tour Eiffel' is 'Eiffel Tower' but I love its original name better and it's not that hard to understand so I'm going to use the French version every time I need it :)_

_That's it, enjoy this new chapter my lovely readers!_

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own BBC's characters but I own my characters. And ACD owns his own character.  
__**A/N:** English is ____not my first language_ and this chapter was not beta'd.

* * *

"When I said 'take her to Paris and ask her to marry you on the Tour Eiffel', Sherlock, I was joking" John said, laughing, still shocked.

"Were you? Well, I thought it was a very good idea" Sherlock answered.

"I see" he said, shaking his head with a smile.

"Let me see the ring again!" Mary asked, taking Molly's hand. The girls got up and disappeared in a corner of the kitchen, leaving the two men alone.

"It looks like Mary will be staying around for quite a while" Sherlock said.

"Be gentle with her, she's really nice" John said.

"How long have you two been dating?" Sherlock asked.

"A week, more or less".

"And you're already head over heels for her".

"She's just different and I really do like her, Sherlock. And she's Molly's friend, don't make her run away".

"I seriously doubt I could manage to make her run away from you two. I guess I should get to know her better".

"Yes, yes you should". Sherlock looked at the women in the kitchen, chatting happily. Molly was truly happy and he felt proud for a moment; he was the reason of her bright smile. Sam woke up at the sound of laughing. He was curled up in a ball next to him and he stretched a bit.

"What's going on, uncle?" he asked with a sleepy voice.

"Your aunt is just having fun" Sherlock answered. Sam crawled up to Sherlock's side and rested his head on his lap. Sherlock looked down at the kid already sleeping and observed him for quite a while. He was genuinely surprised to see how this little boy trusted him so much. He had known him for a year, that's true, they spent last summer seeing each other very often but still they didn't get to know each other that well. Still, Sam trusted him. Sherlock smiled as he put a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Children are part of marriage, aren't they?" he asked and John almost choked on his tea. Molly and Mary were still talking in the kitchen and Sherlock had almost whispered his question. John looked behind him, his face landing on Molly.

"Is this why you proposed? Is she pregnant?" he asked. For a moment, he thought that Sherlock had managed to deduce that she was pregnant and that she didn't know yet.

"Don't be ridiculous, she's not pregnant" he said, regretting his question already. John coughed and drank his tea.

"Anyway, yes, I believe that people who usually marry each other want to create their own family, with children" John answered but still couldn't believe what he was saying. He never thought he would have this kind of conversation with Sherlock Holmes. The girls approached them and Molly stopped, happily surprised to see Sam sleeping on Sherlock.

"I think it's time for us to go, it's late" Molly said, looking at her nephew. She took her jacket and Sherlock picked the boy up, handing him to Molly.

"G'dnight, uncle" Sam whispered when he landed in Molly's arms. Molly had never heard him call Sherlock 'uncle' and was a bit scared of how he could react.

"Goodnight Sam" Sherlock said, smiling. Molly let out a sigh of relief, leaned in and kissed him goodnight before leaving with Mary. They shared the cab, both girls smiling. One was getting married, one was slowly falling in love. They liked it that way.

* * *

The next day Molly took Sam to the cemetery. It was just the two of them, as Molly asked to be alone with Sam for a few hours. They reached her grave and Sam put the flowers he had chosen on the gravestone. He was starting to understand death better and sometimes Molly wished he didn't. Understanding death meant feeling pain and she never wanted to see her nephew suffer.

"Mummy! Auntie is getting married!" Sam said, sitting on the grass. Molly smiled and stood behind him. "Uncle Sherlock asked her last night, in Paris! Auntie said it was very romantic! Tell her, auntie!".

"Oh, yes, very romantic indeed" she said sitting next to him. "He brought me to Paris and we danced on the Tour Eiffel and that's where he asked me to marry him".

"You would like him, mummy, he makes auntie very happy. And you would make dad like him too". Molly looked at him confused and he gave her a funny look.

"I'm not stupid, I know that dad doesn't like him. But I do and mummy would too. And my sister would be as happy as I am for both of you" he added. Molly felt her heart cringe as he mentioned 'his sister'. She couldn't forget the life that was inside of her sister when she died, a life that never got the chance to see the light and breathe the fresh air. She would've loved to have another nephew. Or niece, as Sam insisted it was a girl.

"Yes, you're right but you'll see, dad will like him one day" she replied.

"Oh, I hope so! Oh, mummy, I met Matt again! I met him last summer and we stayed friends. His little brother is so grown up!" Sam said. Molly just listened to him telling his mother how life was going and after a while, they got up.

"Why don't you go and wait for me at the entrance? Father Robert is there, go and tell him hi" Molly said and Sam nodded, waving goodbye to the gravestone. Molly turned around and let out a sad sigh.

"We miss you, Melissa. I still can't forgive myself for that damn day" Molly said, holding her hands together. "I just...I wish I had died in your place, as it should've been. I was meant to die, not you. Not the baby. You had so much to live for, a family, a new life, your own life...I was expendable, you were not. And now, I'm feeling like I'm stealing what's meant to be yours, by marrying Sherlock. I wish you were here. Both of you". Molly wiped away some tears and blew her nose. "Bye, Melissa. Tell dad I said hi". She walked away and reached Sam and Father Robert, who were still chatting.

* * *

Molly didn't want her wedding to be in August, she said it was too hot and she preferred July. She never said it but the thought of getting married in August made her feel like a thief again, stealing Melissa's life, since she and Ethan had decided to get married in August. Sherlock didn't mind, getting married in July. He really didn't care, he could marry her even in Baker Street, he just wanted to legalize the fact that she was his and he was hers. The date was set for the 19th of July.

"We have three weeks to organize everything" Molly said looking at her agenda. All five of them were in a bar in the middle of London, having tea and discussing the wedding preparations.

"I'd prefer for the wedding to be a private ceremony, just with close friends" Sherlock said.

"And family" Molly added while Sherlock snorted. "I'd really like for you to call your mother and tell her you're getting married".

"You still have to tell your mother, too" he pointed out.

"I'm calling her tonight, as well as Ethan. I want your mother to be there" Molly said.

"You don't want your mother to be at your wedding?" Mary asked. Sherlock did his best not to tell her it was none of her business.

"Of course I do" he replied. Mary was confused, not used to Sherlock's behaviour and thoughts.

"Alright then, we'll invite friends and family. We're going to have a small ceremony and a little reception" Molly said.

"We could do it at our apartment" John suggested. "If the guests aren't too many".

"Well, I was thinking of you two, Mrs. Hudson, Lestrade, my mom, Ethan, Sam of course, Sherlock's mother and Mycroft...we'll be eleven" Molly said, writing down the names.

"What about your grandfather?" Mary asked.

"I'm not sure he's going to come here, he's really old, almost ninety-four" she answered. "If he's coming, we'll be twelve".

"I think Baker Street can manage all those people" John said, Sherlock nodding.

"The reception at Baker Street would indeed be very nice" he said. Molly happily wrote down Baker Street on the reception page on her agenda. Mary and John left half an hour later and Molly asked Sherlock if he wanted to go and look for the church.

"I know we're supposed to find one together but I really don't mind if you choose it on your own. I just want a place where I can marry you" he said, kissing her. His phone buzzed a second later and he picked up the call. It was Lestrade with a new case. He jumped up, both Sam and Molly following him. After paying the tea, they left and Sherlock hung up the call.

"Lestrade has a new case for me. I have to go, it sounds exciting!" he said, jumping happily. He kissed her again and gave her an apologetic smile. "Please bear with me, I'm not the kind of person who deals well with such preparations".

"I know. I don't mind doing this by myself. I'm just going to ask you if what I chose is good for you too" she replied and he thanked her with a kiss. Before disappearing into a cab, Molly talked again. "Oh, tell Lestrade we're getting married! And invite him, since you're there!". Sherlock turned around and nodded. "Will do", he said. The cab departed and Molly took Sam's hand.

"Shall we go and find a church?" she asked.

"Yes!" he replied.

That evening Molly and Sam had dinner alone and while Sam was brushing his teeth, she called her mother.

"Honey dear, is something wrong?" her mother immediately asked.

"No mom, why would something be wrong?" Molly asked.

"You never call at this hour" she replied and Molly looked at the clock. It was almost 10 p.m., she hadn't noticed.

"Oh, sorry. If it's too late I can call tomorrow morning" she said.

"No, no, don't worry, I just feared something had happened. So, what's up?".

"Something actually happened mom but it's good news, really. Two days ago I went to Paris...".

"Paris? Oh, dear, I didn't know you were going abroad!".

"Sherlock brought me there, for dinner".

"Dinner? Well, that guy really knows where to take women for dinner".

"Yes, that's true. He...he wanted to have a dinner alone with me. He...", Molly took a deep breath. "He asked me to marry him, mom". There was a moment of silence, which Molly didn't know if it was good or bad.

"He asked you to marry him?" she repeated.

"And I said yes. We're getting married in three weeks" Molly announced. She feared her mother would react in a bad way, she felt like everyone thought Sherlock was the cause of Melissa's death.

"Oh God, sorry, I had to sit down" her mother said. "I...I'm genuinely surprised honey. I never thought he would ask you to marry him!".

"Well...he did, in Paris..." she said and those words made her realize how romantic it sounded and how un-Sherlock it was.

"I'm happy for you honey, I really am!" her mother said. Molly could literally hear happiness in her voice and that made her smile.

"I thought you would take it...badly" she admitted.

"Oh, dear, why on earth would I react bad at the news that my daughter is getting married? I thought life with Sherlock was going to slowly destroy you, I have to be honest, I thought...I don't know what I was thinking, I just thought your relationship was odd and not ordinary. But he's giving you something ordinary, a marriage! You'll be family" Jennifer said. Molly was astonished by her words and felt happiness spread all over her body.

"Thank you mom. We're going to do a little ceremony, nothing big, just with family and friends. I'll tell you more, that's all I can say. Oh, we're getting married on the 19th of July" Molly said.

"Well, I'll be there!" Jennifer said. She kept congratulating and ten minutes later, the call ended. Sam was already in her bed, reading a book for school. She reached him and called Ethan.

"Molly! Hi, is everything alright?" he asked.

"Yes, everything's fine" she said and Sam started to jump on the bed, making her laugh.

"Everything is more than fine, auntie's getting married!" he shouted and Molly ordered him to go back under the covers. He giggled and obeyed, cuddling next to her.

"Is it true?" he asked. She hoped he would be happy for her. He surely wasn't.

"Yes, Sherlock asked me to marry him. We're going to get married" she said, her hand caressing Sam's hair.

"I'm happy for you" he said, his voice flat. Molly got up, smiled down at the child and went to the living room.

"No, you're not" she said.

"I'm trying, okay? It's only been a year. I still don't like him but I'm happy for you" he said.

"I'd like you to be here, Ethan" she said.

"I don't know Molly...I can't tell you now" he answered.

"Okay. Just think about it. I'd mean a lot to me" she said, biting her lip. She wanted to ask him to walk her down the aisle but she quickly changed her mind. It didn't feel right to ask him to give her away to the man he thought was Melissa's murderer.

"I'll think about it, Molls. Goodnight". She turned off her phone and went back to bed. Sam smiled and she jumped on her bed, making him laugh, starting a pillow fight that made them fall asleep pretty fast.

* * *

_Sigh, Ethan still doesn't like Sherlock. Will he ever? Who knows... (I know!)_  
_Thank you for reading, love you all! :3_


	17. Matter of the Heart

_Forgive me, guys!  
I had so much to do in these days, work keeps me busy :/_

_But here I am with a new chapter!_  
_Thank you so much for your reviews, they make my day! And now, brace yourself for this chapter..._

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own BBC's characters but I own my characters. And ACD owns his own character.  
__**A/N:** English is ____not my first language_ and this chapter was not beta'd.

* * *

A week after, Molly was still looking for a church. Sherlock had informed his mother about the wedding and now she wanted to meet Molly. Mycroft, of course, already knew it. Ethan still had to tell her whether he was going to be there or not.

Molly was out again with Sam, going around the city to find some new clothes for the boy. She was leafing through her agenda when she felt Sam pull her towards a shop. She lifted her eyes and gasped.

"Sam, I still have time for this" she said.

"No, no, let's go now, we're here!" he said and dragged her inside the shop. Molly's eyes flew around the room and she laughed when she saw Sam run to a salesperson and ask her if she could help them. Soon, Molly found herself trying on wedding dresses. When her phone rang, she asked Sam to pick it up since she was trying to make the zip of the dress work.

"Hello?" Sam answered.

"Sam, hi! Where's Molly?" Mary asked.

"She's in the changing room, trying a wedding dress!" he answered.

"What?!" she asked. "We were supposed to find it together! We're coming there, where are you?". Within ten minutes, Mary was standing outside the changing room shouting how unfair it was for her to go and choose the dress without calling her.

"I dragged her in here, Mary! We were going to call you soon" Sam answered, smiling.

"Oh. That's okay then. Well, since we're all here, come out Molly! We want to see you with the dress on!" Mary said. Molly was about to come out when she stopped.

"What do you mean with 'we're all here'?!" she asked, panicking. _Sherlock can't be here!_, she thought.

"It means I'm here too" John said. "Don't worry, Sherlock is not here, he's gone to see his mother".

Molly sighed and walked out, holding part of her gown. She stepped in front of the mirror, looking at the dress. It was strapless and the gown was straight with some glitters.

"Woah" John and Sam said. Mary giggled and clapped her hands.

"This is beautiful, Molly!" Mary said.

"Still, it doesn't convince me" she said. She went back to the changing room and changed into her normal clothes, handing the dress back to the salesperson. "I think I should look around again". Molly and Mary disappeared between the dresses and John sat next to Sam, waiting for them. John took out his phone and wrote a quick message. Fifteen minutes later, Molly was back into the changing room and Mary looked quite pleased.

"I think she got the one!" she said.

"How do you know?" John asked.

"Her eyes lit up when she saw it. You'll see" she said. Molly stepped out and when she looked at her reflection, she almost fainted. There it was, her perfect wedding dress. It was strapless just like the other one but the gown was different, it reminded her of the waves of the sea. It was long but not big, it matched her body perfectly.

"I think that's the one" she said, looking at the others. Mary kept telling her how beautiful she was and what a perfect choice she had made. Sam was completely amazed by his aunt's beauty. John just kept smiling and when he got up and went in front of Molly, he gave her his biggest smile.

"You look beautiful" he said. Molly smiled, tears in her eyes.

"Thank you" she said. She changed once again into her old clothes and came out holding the dress. The salesperson approached them and smiled.

"I believe the dress is chosen, then!" she said. Molly nodded but when she looked at the price, her smile faded. It cost more than two of her salaries put together.

"Pack the dress for Miss Hooper. The payment has already been made" a new voice said. Molly raised her head and met Mycroft's eyes. The salesperson took the dress and walked away, leaving them questioning Mycroft with their eyes. Well, everyone but John.

"What are you doing here?" Molly asked. "Not that I don't want you here, it's just...".

"John told me you were here. I wanted to give some contribution for this wedding and I believe the wedding dress is very important for this kind of ceremony" he answered.

"You didn't have to do it" she said.

"No, but I wanted to" he replied. That's when Molly started to appreciate Mycroft better.

"Thank you so much" she said, smiling.

"I'd do anything for the woman who managed to find my brother's heart and put it back to its place" he said, smiling. "I'll leave you to your business. Good afternoon". Mycroft left, leaving smiles on everyone's face.

"So, you got the dress!" Mary said.

"It seems so. Yours' next!" Molly said and Mary almost squeaked. "But we're going to find your dress tomorrow".

A few hours later Molly dragged them to the park where Sam was invited. There was a kind of party for children of that neighbourhood and Sam asked if he could go, since he was staying there. Molly was chatting with John and Mary when Anna approached them.

"Molly, help me please!" she begged, smiling.

"What is it?" Molly asked.

"The kids want someone to play with them, I tried my best but I have Edmund to look after, could you please go and entertain them? Just for a while" she asked.

"Of course! My pleasure" Molly said and jumped up, telling her friends she would be back soon. John and Mary didn't mind staying alone for a while, cuddling in each other's arms. Their peace was soon interrupted by Sherlock. John had informed him of their whereabouts.

"Oh, you're here" John said when Sherlock approached them.

"Yes, as you can see. Where's Molly?" he asked, noticing her absence.

"Having fun with the kids" John said pointing to his friend. Sherlock turned around and watched. Molly was in the middle of a group of children, all of them laughing. She was telling them a story, he could tell it by the way she moved her hands and by the children's astonished faces. As soon as the story ended, she started to chase them. Sherlock felt something twist in his stomach and he didn't quite know what it was, but he guessed it. Molly was good with children and it was clear she loved to have them around. The thought of having children scared him, of course. He wasn't ordinary, children were never in his plans but for Molly, he could change his mind. All that mattered was her happiness and if children were to be part of that, he would gladly accept it. Then he thought, having one of those running kids around wouldn't be that bad. His child. He wouldn't mind to have one of his own. He didn't realize it but he stared at Molly for about ten minutes, then she approached him.

"Oh, hi, I didn't see you coming" she said, kissing him.

"I saw you were kind of busy" he replied.

"Yes, Anna asked me to help her with the kids. They're okay now" she replied, smiling. He noticed how bright her face was and quickly hugged her.

"How was your visit to your mom?" she asked.

"Good. Mother asked for us to get married there" he said and Molly looked at him quite surprised.

"You mean...in her house? I mean, your house? The Holmes Manor?" she asked.

"Yes. It would mean a great deal to her but she said she respects your choice if you want to have an ordinary wedding and celebrate it in a church" he replied.

"No, no!" she quickly answered. They weren't ordinary and she liked it that way. "I mean, I think that's a good idea. It's original...and it's fine with me".

"Good. We'll talk about it when we meet her tomorrow" he said and Molly groaned. "Don't be scared, mummy won't bite".

"Thanks, that makes me feel better" she said, laughing sarcastically.

* * *

That night Molly took Sam to Matthew's house. His London friend asked him if he could sleep over and Sam was more than happy to spend an entire night playing video games with his friend and to sleep there. Sherlock immediately appeared in her apartment when she got back home.

"It looks like we might have a night for ourselves" he said, his arms wrapping around her waist.

"Mmh, finally" she said. She loved to have Sam around but sometimes, she just wanted to be alone with Sherlock.

He picked her up and she giggled, her arms around his neck. He put his lips on hers, kissing her softly. Her fingers found its way for his hair and got lost in them, their lips dancing together. She felt the mattress hit her back when Sherlock laid her on her bed. Her legs were still around his waist as his hands travelled around her hips, moving quickly to her shirt, raising it.

"Someone's really inpatient" she whispered, a laugh escaping her mouth.

"I've been waiting more than a week to have you for myself" he said, kissing her neck. "I surely can't take you when Sam's playing in the other room". She laughed again and brought his face back to hers, kissing him deeply. The covers quickly intertwined with their naked bodies, their lips never parting. Later, they both took a shower and then rested on the bed, resting in each other's arms.

"You looked happy today" he suddenly said. She looked at him, asking him to explain. "With the children. You looked happy".

"Oh, well, yes. They always bring much joy" she replied, smiling.

"Would it be a good idea for a child to bring joy to our lives?" he asked. Molly blinked several times and then sat up, looking at him. "Is this a good moment to talk about children?" he added.

"No" she replied coldly, hugging her legs. Sherlock sat up and looked at her, confused.

"I want to try this, too, Molly. I can do it. I've been thinking about it for quite a while. Children make you happy and it's a kind of happiness I wouldn't mind trying" he said.

"Sherlock, listen" she said, smiling. Her eyes, though, were holding back tears. "I know you're doing this for me but you don't have to do it. You've given me so much, letting me be part of your life, asking me to be your wife. I'm not going to ask you for children, I'm okay with being just your wife".

"I'm the one asking for children" he replied. "Maybe not now but in the future we could try". What Sherlock didn't expect was for Molly to burst into a loud cry, shaking her head.

"What is it?" he asked. Did he do something wrong? Did he say something that was not meant to be said?

"We're not going to have children" she cried. He looked at her, confused. "I can't have children. I'm barren". Her tears were wetting her face like rain on the street. She turned around, trying to contain her cry, her hands frenetically wiping her tears away. Sherlock let her calm down on her own, collecting the information he had just received. "When I was twenty-four the doctor diagnosed me with endometriosis and had to do a hysterectomy. It took me some time but I got used to the idea of not having children" she said, her back still on him. And then, everything made sense. In the past year he had spent with Molly, she never once complained for her stomach's pain. She had no tampons around her apartment and when they were about to make love and had no protections, Molly always quickly answered that she was on the pill. But there were no pills boxes around. And she never was on the pill.

She stayed silent for a moment and sniffed. "Do you still want to marry me?".

Sherlock reached her and wrapped his arms gently around her. He still didn't feel comfortable with those words, but they were needed now.

"I love you Molly Hooper and I'd marry you a hundred times" he said. She turned around and buried her face in his embrace. He made them both lie down and she cried her hear out. Sherlock tried to comfort her and she kept whispering "I'm so sorry".

* * *

_Yeah, drama is never over with me. (I did warn you at the beginning! a little..)  
I'm soooorry! (no I'm not)  
I'm really bad at explanations so if you want to know what an endometriosis is, wikipedia explains it very well ;D (but I'm going to explain, kind of, what a hysterectomy is in next chapter!)_

_I don't know when I'm going to update but I hope soon, sooner than last time!_  
_Thank you for reading and bear with my cruelty!_


	18. Meet the Parent

_No, I'm not dead!  
I'm so sorry guys, I wanted to update earlier but I really had no time. Work keeps me busy and besides, I'm shooting a movie!  
I'm not going to abandon this story, I can assure you that, I'm just going to be a bit slow with my updates. After July, I'm going to be able to update faster than now :)  
_

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own BBC's characters but I own my characters. And ACD owns his own character.  
__**A/N:** English is ____not my first language_ and this chapter was not beta'd.

* * *

The sun was shining high, announcing another warm day. Molly went to Anna's house for lunch and Sherlock went back home, still confused by last night's events. John was home too, reading the newspaper on the couch.

"Did you have a good night?" John asked, smiling. Sherlock didn't even hear him, he threw his jacket away and sat down in his chair. He brought the hands to his lips, his mind wandering off to his mind palace. John called him a few times but Sherlock never answered. He waited for him to come back to the world of the living and when he did, John called him again.

"What?" Sherlock asked.

"I asked you if you had a good night. What happened?" John asked, leaning forward. Sherlock looked at him, his hands still near his lips.

"We're not going to have children" he said. John looked confused. "Molly can't have children".

"Oh" John said, biting his lip. He coughed a few times before speaking again. "Well, infertile women still can get pregnant. There's the in vitro fertilisation, nowadays there are many ways to have children".

"She had her uterus removed. Whatever medicine provides now, it's not going to work for us" Sherlock said.  
"Ah" John said. He rested his back on the couch, sighing. "I'm sorry".

"I don't know what to do, John" he admitted. "This situation doesn't make her happy. It upsets her and there's nothing I can do to fix this".

"There's always something, even for this" John replied. "Adoption". Sherlock frowned and blinked, this word almost foreign to him. "I know it's not going to be yours but still, it'll be a child worth of your love".

"You speak of love and children in such an easy way, John. Life's much more complicated than a few honest actions".

"Love is easy, you keep looking for complicate logical reasons for its functioning. Molly taught you what it means to love and to accept someone's hopes and feelings. If you want to fix this, my friend, consider adoption".

John saw how scared Sherlock looked, even if he tried his best not to admit it. He got up and patted his shoulder. "Don't talk with Molly about adoption now. Let time pass, leave her some time to think. Get married, enjoy life with her and then mention it".

John disappeared into the kitchen and Sherlock left once again for his mind palace, deleting all the files that concerned the _Children of my own_ and replacing them with _Adoption_ files. Was he ready to take care of a child that was not his?

* * *

Molly felt tired and sad that day. She told Sam she was feeling a bit sick, he kept asking her what was wrong when they came back home. When they arrived at her apartment, she laid down on the bed and Sam asked her if it would bother her if he played in the living room.

"Of course not! Go and play and if you need anything, just call" she said, kissing his forehead. Sam jumped up and went to the living room, taking his toys with him. He built his personal city and used Toby as the big monster who had to be fought off by his superhero wax figures. Strangely enough, Toby didn't mind being carried around. Sherlock entered the apartment and almost tripped over the city.

"Ssh!" Sam said, his finger on his lips. "Auntie is sick, she needs rest".

"What's wrong with her?" Sherlock asked, already on his way to her bedroom.

"She's just a bit sick" he answered. "Don't upset her". Sherlock smiled and knocked on the door, entering. Molly turned around and sat up when Sherlock closed the door.

"I didn't hear you coming in" she said.

"Sam says you're feeling sick" he said, sitting next to her.

"Oh it's just...I'm fine, I just had to make up something" she answered, looking down. Sherlock took her hand and squeezed it gently.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked.

"No, I just need to rest" she said. He looked concerned, worried. "I'm used to this, Sherlock. It's just been a while since I've told anyone. Actually, I never told anyone, my family was the only one aware of it. I know how my life's going to be and I've accepted it".

"Then why are you reacting like this now?" he asked. She smiled along with her tears.

"Because I'm feeling like I've let you down" she answered. "You did so much for me. You were willing to have children and I can't give them to you". Sherlock cupped her face with his hands, his eyes firmly looking into hers.

"Molly Hooper, you've never once let me down, it's surely the other way around. I've never met someone as strong as you and so stubbornly caring. It is not your fault if your body betrayed your expectations and I do not love you any less for this".

"You're okay with this?".

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be? All that matters is for you to be with me". Sometimes, she still couldn't believe what she was hearing. She thought it had just been a very long dream, that Sherlock was never hers, that Melissa was still alive somewhere, but then she realized those words were for her and for her only. She couldn't ask for more. She hugged him tight, whispering "Thank you" into his ear, his arms never letting go of her body.

* * *

A cab was waiting for them outside and Molly was getting ready to meet Mrs. Holmes. Sam was going to stay with Mary for the entire afternoon and Molly assured her friend that they would be back for dinner.

"Are you ready?" Sherlock asked, entering the bedroom. Molly nodded, taking her purse. "If you don't want to go, it's okay".

"No, it's time I meet your mother" she replied, nodding. She kissed Sam goodbye and went outside with Sherlock. The cab took them out of London, where the Holmes Manor was. Molly blinked more than it was necessary. The Holmes Manor was like a palace to her. The garden was welcoming them with big trees on its sides and a wonderful park with flowers in the middle. There was a big fountain in the middle of it and green was surrounding them. The Manor had four floors for sure, maybe even more. She couldn't tell how big it was, it was just extremely big.

"That's where you grew up?" she asked.

"Yes, I've lived here for most of my childhood, I moved when I went to university" he replied.

"I would've never left" she said, her mouth still open for the amazement. The car stopped and Sherlock helped her out. His mother was waiting for them outside.

"Welcome, my dear" she said, kissing her cheeks. "We finally meet".

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Holmes" Molly said, shaking her hand.

"Oh, please, call me Violet. Let's go inside, it's too warm out here" she said and they followed, Sherlock squeezing Molly's hand to give her support. They went into what Molly presumed was the living room and sat down, Molly and Sherlock next to each other, Violet in front of them.

"So, Molly. I believe I have to thank you" Violet said, pouring tea into the cups.

"Thank...me?" Molly asked, confused. She was playing with her hands and Sherlock had to put his hand on them to stop her.

"You saved my boy in all the way a person could be saved. You guaranteed him your help and helped him faking his death. Without you, my boy wouldn't be sitting here with us" she said.

"Oh, it was nothing, I only did what I thought was right" she replied.

"It was right indeed. And you saved him with your love, I couldn't be more happy for my boy!" she said. Molly smiled. She didn't know why she feared her so much, she was lovely.

"I believe Sherlock has told you my proposition" she continued and Molly nodded.

"Yes and I think it's lovely. I'd like to get married here, it's such a wonderful place" Molly answered.

"Sherlock, dear, you're silent" Violet said, sipping her tea.

"I wouldn't dare risking to join the two of you into this conversation" he replied, smiling.

"But it's your wedding, too. What's your opinion, dear? Would you like to get married in the same house you grew up in?" Violet asked.

"I don't mind the idea" he answered.

"Oh, he's always like that, doesn't care about things! Well then I suppose I should have this talk with Molly alone" Violet said getting up. Molly mimed her actions and Violet offered her her arm.

"We'll be in the park if you need anything. Entertain yourself, I know you can think of something". Sherlock smiled and watched his women walk outside, feeling relieved that the two of them were getting along quite well.

Violet kept telling Molly how it would be nice for them to get married in the garden, they could easily recreate the aisle and arrange many different decorations. Molly listened carefully and smiled at the thought of getting married in such a wonderful place.

"I still find it surprising that my youngest child is getting married first. Mycroft is keeping himself so busy with his government that I doubt he will ever find time to fall in love and Sherlock was never one to marry but I'm glad we all were wrong on this point" Violet said, squeezing Molly's hand. "I always thought grandchildren would be the best achievement an old woman could reach but I now believe seeing my son happy with a woman like you is all I could ask for". Molly froze when she mentioned grandchildren and she tried her best to hide her nervousness. Violet smiled warmly and took her hand.

"Don't worry, dear. I know. I learned how to decode my son's behaviour and I realized that his request fit my deductions pretty well" she said.

"Request? Which request?" Molly asked.

"This morning he called to confirm that you two were coming and asked me not to mention grandchildren. He knows how much I love little children and how much I've asked both him and Mycroft to give me some grandchildren, so he asked, or more likely begged me, not to mention them" she answered. "I thought you both were not ready to talk about children at this stage of your relationship but then, the way he held you, made me realize that was not the reason". _Sherlock must have inherited his deduction skills from her, _Molly thought.

"Maybe Mycroft can still get married and give you grandchildren" Molly said, smiling awkwardly.

"Oh my dear, I only want my son not to be alone and you've saved him. I told you, I couldn't ask for more" Violet said. She hugged her daughter-in-law-to-be and Molly smiled, feeling her heart getting heavy. Talking about children always made her feel uncomfortable and sad. She kept her smile on and finished talking about her wedding when Sherlock reached them and soon, he and Molly were on their way back home. Sherlock noticed how unlikely silent she was during their journey back, as he expected her to talk frenetically about the conversation she had with his mother.

"I'd like to go to the cemetery, if it's okay for you" she suddenly said. Sherlock nodded and told the cabby the new address. When they arrived, Sherlock asked the cabby to wait for them and followed Molly to Melissa's grave. He took her hand and he stared at the name craved into the stone.

"Every day I wake up hoping I partially lived a dream" she said, breaking the silence. Sherlock knew what she was meaning. She wished Melissa was still alive but that she would still be Sherlock's woman. "And I wish I had died in her place".  
Sherlock frowned, looking at his pale petite pathologist. She meant it.

"Why would you think something like that?" he asked.

"Because I'm expendable, she was not. She had a normal life, a family, a new baby on the way...she had so much to live for. I was meant to die, not her", she sniffed. "I didn't even get the chance to tell her goodbye".

"You're not expendable, Molly, not for me" Sherlock said, trying to make her look at him. "Nor was she but unluckily, she died when she was not supposed to".

"Unluckily?" she said, finally meeting his eyes. "She died because they thought they were killing me. That's more than bad luck. It's not fair and I wish I could change that. She left a family behind, if I had died in her place, like it should've happened, I wouldn't have left anyone alone!".

"You would've left me alone" he pointed out. "And John. And your sister, and Sam, and your mother. And what about Toby?".

"He's a cat, he can easily find a new family, they all love him in my palace" she said.

"Stop it, Molly. You're talking nonsense. I'm going to retreat my proposal if you keep talking like this" Sherlock said with a very much serious tone.

"Why are you with me, Sherlock?" she asked, facing him completely. "What is it that you find in me that makes me so special?".

"You make my life an adventure, every single day" he answered, taking her hands. "Cases end after a while, I solve them and then they are forgotten. They keep me busy, challenge me and give me extreme satisfaction when I solve them but they eventually end. You, Molly Hooper, challenge me every single day. You make life worth the effort, it's always a different adventure with you and you are forever, you're not going to be solved and you're not going to end. Not for me".

"You really mean this?" she asked, tears in her eyes.

"Of course I do. Now, stop talking nonsense and come back to me. I need my Molly back, the strong, smiling and caring pathologist that managed to make me feel something" he said. She smiled and poked his arm.

"That was John, not me. He made you feel something in the first place. He changed you first" she replied.

"But it's you I'm going to marry" he replied. She laughed, he smiled.

"Good point" she said. "I'm sorry. I just feel hopeless sometimes. I promise it's going to get better". Sherlock kissed her full on the mouth, his lips gently pressing on hers.

"Let's go home" he said and pulled her into a hug before they reached the cab. They went to his apartment and for the entire journey, Molly had a question on her mind. They never talked about _their_ home. Where were they going to live?

* * *

_She met the mother! Yeee :)_

_Thank you so much for reading my story and I hope you keep reviewing it even if I don't update as fast as I used to!_  
_I'll try to put the next chapter up next week, can't promise you anything but I'll try!_

_Thank you again and I love you!_


	19. Final Preparations

_Thank you so much for your reviews guys, I love reading them, seriously, you make my day with your reviews!  
Here's the new chapter, I hope you're going to like it :D  
_

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own BBC's characters but I own my characters. And ACD owns his own character.  
__**A/N:** English is ____not my first language_ and this chapter was not beta'd.

* * *

When they got out of the cab, Sherlock led her upstairs. Molly started to imagine how it would be like to live there; she would get home from Bart's, unlock the door and enter her home, putting her bag somewhere, her coat on the hanger and eventually make dinner for her and something for her husband.

"What is it?" Sherlock asked as she found herself standing on the doorway, staring around.

"Oh, nothing, it's just..." she started. "We never talked about _our_ home, you know. Where we are going to live. I suppose married couples live together".

"You suppose right. No offence but your apartment is way too small for the three of us. I thought you moving in here was a good idea" Sherlock replied, taking his violin. Molly took a few minutes to note what he had just said. The three of us. Were they going to live with John for the rest of their lives? She liked having him around but she actually hoped she would get some time alone with Sherlock.

"Yes, I suppose you're right...we all need our space and this apartment is big enough for the three of us" she said.

"I doubt Toby will actually need that much space but he'll be more free to jump around here" he said, smiling when Molly looked at him surprised.

"Toby? You mean...were you talking about Toby when you said the three of us?" she asked.

"Of course I was. Do you really expect John to live with us?" he replied.

"Well...I thought it was obvious..." she answered, feeling a bit dumb. "Where is he going to live?".

"221C. He started moving down there a week ago. He likes the idea of having his own apartment but still living near me" he answered. Molly smiled and sat down on the couch while Sherlock started to play the violin softly. _I have to sell my apartment_, she thought.

* * *

For the next days, Molly packed her things and started to move in with Sherlock while John was bringing his things downstairs. The wedding preparations were going well and in the end they decided to do the entire ceremony at the Holmes Manor, it would be less problematic. It was big enough for all of them and 221B was currently too full of boxes.

They were three days away from the wedding and Molly was still trying to find someone who could walk her down the aisle. Ethan still had to tell her whether he was going to come or not and Molly found herself asking John a favour.

"I'd love to walk you down the aisle but I thought Ethan was going to do it" he said and Molly sat down on the couch, sighing heavily.

"No. I mean, I wanted to ask him but it just didn't feel right. I thought about asking my grandpa but you know, he walks too slowly" she replied and both laughed.

"Alright then. I'll gladly walk you down the aisle" he said and Molly thanked him with a big warm hug. She didn't feel so alone in that moment.

She felt even happier that night when her grandfather called.

"Grandpa!" Molly said when she answered the phone. Sherlock raised his eyes from the microscope and observed his happy woman talk to her grandfather.

"How are you my dear?" he asked.

"I'm very good, thanks, how are you doing?" she asked.

"Oh, good, good. I'm better now. I'm feeling so much better and this means I can come to your wedding, if I'm still accepted" he said.

"Of course you are! I'm so happy you're going to come" she said, smiling.

"Wouldn't miss my grandchild's wedding" he replied.

"That's good. How are you going to come here?".

"Your mother is picking me up, I'll be with her the whole time. We're going to stay by some friends of her for the night, you don't have to worry about it".

"You sure? I could arrange something for you in my old apartment, it's sold but I still can use it if you'd like to stay there".

"Oh, nonsense my child, we're arranged good this way". Molly spent a good half hour on the phone with her grandfather and when the call ended, Sherlock noticed how much happier she looked.

"I believe your grandfather is coming to our wedding" he said.

"Yes, yes he is" she replied, kissing him on the cheek. She sat down and looked at her things-to-do list and started to write something down.

"How are the preparations going?" he asked, approaching her.

"Good. I can say that everything's sorted. You have your best man, I have mine, your mother kindly took care of the food and organized everything for the ceremony. The only thing left is...the rings". Sherlock peered over her shoulder and saw something he didn't expect to see.

"John's walking you down the aisle?" he asked.

"Yes...I couldn't ask Ethan" she replied. She looked up. "Don't worry, you'll have your best man".

"I wasn't worried about that" he replied. "I'm sorry about Ethan".

"Don't worry, it's fine" she said.

"Is he going to come?" he asked.

"I don't know. He still has to tell me" she replied. Molly smiled and stretched, a yawn escaping from her lips.

"I'm going to bed" she announced, getting up. She got on her tiptoes and kissed him goodnight but before she got the chance to get away, Sherlock stopped her with a hug.

"Let me help you" he said.

"What do you mean?" she asked, smiling, enjoying the warm embrace.

"I've done little for our wedding, I'd like to help you with something tomorrow. I don't have any case now and I get bored here at home alone" he said. Her smile grew bigger and she laughed.

"Well, then, I guess you could come with me to retire the rings" she said and he smiled.

"I'd love to come with you" he said, smiling, kissing her again. "Is Sam coming with us?".

"No, he's going to spend the day with Matthew" she replied.

"So this means you're all mine, tomorrow" he exclaimed, kissing her.

"That's quite right" she replied. He smiled and she smiled back and after saying goodnight, she went to bed.

* * *

The next day, Molly felt extremely happy. Sherlock went with her to retire the rings and he tried his best to be polite with the man. Molly looked at the rings with such joy in her eyes that a smile escaped from Sherlock's lips and when he realized it, he smiled even bigger. He didn't care what other people were thinking, he felt what people called happiness and love and he was extremely surprised that it was all caused by his tiny pathologist.

"They're beautiful" Molly exclaimed, looking at the ring she was holding.

"Yes, you are" he replied. Molly looked at him and gave him a warm smile.

"I was talking about the rings" she pointed out.

"Well, I was not" he replied, kissing her head. Molly smiled and closed her eyes, afraid to open them again and find out it has all been a dream. That's what she always feared, to wake up in her lonely apartment and realize she has been living a dream. But when she opened her eyes, Sherlock was there with her. And he was smiling.

When they arrived home, Molly's cellphone rang. It took her a while to find it in her purse.

"Hello?" she answered quickly, not even looking at the screen to see who it was.

"Hi Molly" Ethan replied. Molly froze but immediately smiled, hope raising in her heart.

"Ethan, hi" she said. Sherlock sat in his chair, hands on his lips, listening carefully.

"How are you?" he asked.

"I'm good, thank you. And you?" she asked.

"I'm...fine. Are you excited?" he asked. "The wedding's just two days away".

"Yeah. I can't believe it's already here. I can't wait" she said, trying her best to hide her excitement. It didn't feel right, to feel excited about getting married when Ethan had to cope with his lover's death.

"I can only imagine. Listen, about the wedding..." he started and Molly interrupted him.

"I understand it, Ethan, if you don't want to come. Really".

"I'm coming".

"What?".

"I said that I'm coming. Melissa would want me to be there". Molly shed a tear hearing her sister's name.

"Yeah...she would".

"I'm happy for you Molly, for both of you".  
"Thank you. I'll see you in two days then".

"Yes, tell Sam I said hi". Molly put the cellphone on the table and reached Sherlock, her smile telling him everything. Well, he didn't have to guess that much.

"Does this mean we're going to have your entire family at our wedding?" he asked, taking her in his arms. Her smile quickly faded.

"Not my entire family" she said, sadness covering her face. Sherlock immediately hugged her, cursing himself in his mind.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that" he apologized.

"Don't apologize. My entire family is going to be there, it's just...I wish Melissa was there too. And her baby and my father. I know I can't have them at my wedding but I wish they were here" she replied, her head resting on his shoulder. "At least Ethan's coming".

* * *

The next day, everyone was frenetically busy. Violet kept calling them, asking if everything was sorted. The Manor was ready for the wedding and John was about to kill Sherlock.

"What do you mean with, "I'm going to wear my usual suit"? Sherlock, you can't be serious" John said.

"Why not, all I need is a suit to wear and I already have one" he replied, carelessly.

"It's your wedding! You should wear something...different!" John almost shouted.

"Suits are all the same, even if I wear another one it's going to look like the one I already have" he answered.

"Get up" John said, taking his jacket. Sherlock frowned. "I said get up, we're going shopping".

"No, we're not" Sherlock replied firmly.

"I don't care if you already have a suit, we're going to buy you another one. Now, get up!" he exclaimed.

"No" Sherlock said, crossing his arms.

"God, you're such a baby sometimes" John said. In that moment, he felt extremely happy to have said that. Sometimes he still thought about how life would be if Sherlock had actually died. He wouldn't have gotten the chance to say that sentence again.

"I agree with you, Doctor Watson" Mycroft said, entering the room. Both men looked at him, Sherlock blinking.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

"Mummy asked me to bring you this" he said, putting a package on the couch. John took it and opened it, smiling.

"I love your mother" he said.

"I thought you had feelings for Mary" Sherlock said and John didn't even bother answering back. He opened the entire package and showed its content to Sherlock.

"I'm not wearing it" he immediately said.

"Yes, you are, mummy requested for you to wear it" Mycroft said, smiling.

"I already have a suit, thank you very much" he snapped.

"This was our father's suit. Mummy never let us touch it but she wanted you to have it for your wedding" Mycroft answered, a grave expression on his face. Sherlock sighed.

"Alright then. I'll wear it" he said. John smiled.

"And we don't even need to go shopping anymore".

That night, 221B was frenetically chaotic. Sam was jumping around the apartment, chasing Toby and shouting. Molly was trying to get everything ready for tomorrow and calm her nephew down. Sherlock just stared.

"Sam, please, stop shouting, it's late" Molly said, closing her bag.

"But I'm happy!" he said, smiling. A knock on the door stopped Molly from answering back.

"It's time for the bride to get her beauty sleep!" John said. He took Molly's bag and gave it to Mrs. Hudson who was just behind him.

"Where are you taking her?" Sherlock asked, noticing how they were pushing Molly towards the door.

"It's the tradition, the groom and the bride can't sleep in the same room the night before their wedding!" Mrs. Hudson said.

"That's stupid" Sherlock said and Molly smiled.

"But I like traditions" she said, kissing him. "It's just for tonight".

"I want you to sleep with me" he said, hugging her tight, as if he didn't want to let her go. That's what he actually didn't want to happen.

"I'm going to be forever yours, you have to sleep without me tonight" she said and he fumed.

"Alright, if that's what you want" he said. Molly kissed him goodnight, kissed Sam on the cheek and left with Mrs. Hudson. John checked that everything was fine and went to bed, too. That night, Sherlock found himself sleeping with Sam next to him.

"Are you excited, uncle?" he asked.

"No" he replied and felt Sam's funny look staring at him. "I mean, I am, I'm just not going crazy about it".

"Do you love auntie?" he asked.

"Of course I do" he replied sincerely.

"Good. That's all I need to know" he said before crawling next to him. He rested his head on his shoulder and fell asleep there. Sherlock felt a bit uncomfortable but didn't move. Something suddenly hit him and he tried to focus on the boy. He wasn't his child, he was going to be part of his family but still, he was not his. He moved around and faced him, trying to embrace him. _How am I supposed to hold him?, _he asked himself. He studied the child, memorizing his breathing and movements and spent the entire night analysing him.

_Since I can't have one of my own, I better learn how to deal with other's children, _he thought as he memorized his soon-to-be-nephew movements.

* * *

_Sweeeet Sherlock :3_

_I have to tell you that I'm going to update again this week - don't know when - then I'm going away for two weeks. I'm so sorry guys :(_  
_I'm not going to have internet but if I somehow get the chance to find internet, I'm going to update :D_  
_Next chapter - THE WEEEEDDING! So I'm going to leave you with a happy chapter :)_  
_I'm shutting up now. Love you guys!_


	20. Wedding Bells

_New chapter! WEDDING CHAPTER! YAY!  
This is the longest chapter I've wrote so I'm leaving you with a good long chapter :)  
_

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own BBC's characters but I own my characters. And ACD owns his own character.  
__**A/N:** English is ____not my first language_ and this chapter was not beta'd.

* * *

When he woke up, Sherlock felt a strange feeling hit his stomach. It didn't feel quite right, to be awake. He looked around and saw that the room was dark with the curtains closed. He felt tired and his bones were aching. He got up and when the light entered the room, he closed his eyes, finding that light extremely annoying. He grunted and turned his back to the light, hearing someone enter the room.

"You finally decided to let the world know you're alive!" John said. Sherlock frowned. His friend looked...older.

"They already know I'm alive" Sherlock pointed out. _It's been a year since I faked my death, what is he talking about?_, he asked himself.

"Some people actually believe you had died" John said, putting a glass on the night stand. He put a pill next to it and looked at Sherlock, sighing. "It's been five years, Sherlock. It's time to let her go".

Sherlock's heart stopped when he saw the grave expression on John's face.

"I don't know what you're talking about" he said.

"Stop denying it, Sherlock. I know how you feel. She was my friend, too" John said, taking the glass and pill. "Take this pill and let her go. She's gone and she's not coming back".

Sherlock took the glass of water and almost automatically swallowed the pill. He was confused. He looked around. Where was Sam? Where was his suit? Where was Molly? Sherlock walked past John and reached the living room. Everything was like it was before, the room just looked empty.

"Sherlock, don't" John said. Sherlock looked at his friend and quickly analysed him. _New jacket, old shoes. Wears a wedding ring, not new but not too old. Married? Baby food on his shoulder. Children?_

"Don't what?" he asked.

"Don't do this again. Don't shut yourself out from the world. I know it's hard, believe me, but you have to accept her death" John insisted.

"Her...her death?" he repeated. He didn't know who he was talking about.

"She died, Sherlock. Five years ago" John insisted.

"No one died five years ago" Sherlock protested.

"Stop denying it! She died, right here, in your arms and you were there. Face it, Sherlock. She's gone". John's words echoed in his mind as he approached the wall. There, there was something different, something out of place. The wall was covered with pieces of old newspapers.

_Murder at Baker Street._

_Reichenbach hero falls into disgrace._

_Court condemns murderer to life imprisonment – funeral held today._

_Mrs. Molly Holmes murdered last night. Found dead in her husband's arms._

Molly Holmes. Dead.

Sherlock turned around and saw John staring at him. He opened his mouth to speak again.

"Uncle Sherlock, it's time to wake up!" John said. Sherlock looked at him, confused. That was not his voice.  
"Uncle Sherlock! Wake up!" he said. Sherlock ran towards him, wanting to shut his mouth and he suddenly woke up, his eyes meeting Sam's.

"Wake up, uncle! It's late" he said. Sherlock sat up and looked around. His suit was there and so was Sam.

"What day is it?" Sherlock asked.

"It's your wedding day! Are you okay, uncle?" Sam asked.

"Fine. Thanks" he quickly answered. _It was just a dream,_ he thought. John entered the room and smiled.

"Oh, you're up! You actually had some sleep. Good choice, it's going to be a long day" John said, opening the curtains. Sherlock was still shaken from his dream, or better, his nightmare.

"Are you okay?" John asked, noticing his friend's strange face.

"Yeah. I'm okay. Let's get ready" he said, getting up. He decided it was better to ignore that nightmare.

* * *

That morning, the Holmes Manor was a complete chaos. There were people running around, trying to find their seats, meeting strangers and friends. Molly was freaking out in the room Violet had prepared for her. The backyard was ready for the ceremony and the guest were slowly arriving.

"Is Sherlock here?" Molly asked.

"No, he still has to come" Mary answered and Molly stopped dead in her tracks.

"He's not here? Oh, God" she said, sitting down. "Why isn't he here? What if he doesn't come? What if he changed his mind, what if he realized he doesn't love me and ran away with John?". Mary laughed and took her friend's hands.

"Molly, breathe. And calm down. He's coming, he's not even late, the wedding is an hour away, he's going to be here in fifteen minutes. Calm down" Mary said. Molly nodded several times and sighed. She was freaking out.

"Who's here?" she asked, deciding to concentrate on the guests rather than on the groom.

"Your family just arrived, they're coming here. Sam's not here, obviously, he's coming with Sherlock and John. Lestrade texted me, he'll be here in ten minutes. Mycroft is having tea with Violet and as you know, Mrs. Hudson is right outside" Mary said. Molly opened her mouth to speak but the door opened and her family sneaked in.

"Oh my God, Molly!" Jennifer said, running towards her daughter. "You look...stunning!".

"Thanks mom" Molly said and soon found herself in her mother's arms, who kept telling her how happy she was and how lucky Sherlock was. As soon as Ethan detached her from Molly, Joe, her grandfather, reached his granddaughter and hugged her with all the strength he had left.

"I'm so happy for you, sweetheart" he said and poked her cheek. "I can't wait to meet this Sherlock!". Molly laughed and smiled when Ethan hugged her.

"You look beautiful Mols" he said and smiled, honestly. "I'm happy for you both". Molly's smile grew bigger at the thought that maybe Ethan was accepting Sherlock. It would take him time but he would like him, one day. Hopefully.

Thirty minutes later, Sherlock arrived. He found it rather strange to be there. He never thought he would get married and yet his tiny pathologist managed to change his mind. And he really didn't mind. He greeted his friends and family and followed John everywhere. He didn't know what he was supposed to do and trusted John to bring him where he was meant to be.

"Now, stay here, I'm going to see how Molly's doing" John said and laughed when he saw Sherlock's expression.

"Sherlock, calm down. This is easy. You have to do what you did at the rehearsals yesterday" John said. Sherlock nodded and that's when John patted his shoulder. "You're not going to screw this up, my friend. Relax". Sherlock gave him a genuine smile and watched his friend leave, his mother jumping next to him to kiss his cheeks.

Mary led John to Molly, who was now trying not to freak out. When she saw John, she almost burst into tears.

"Oh God, you're here!" she said, hugging him.

"Of course I'm here. Are you alright?" John asked and Molly nodded.

"I'm just...anxious" she replied.

"I can see that" John said and took her hands. "Everything's ready. The guest are taking their seats, Sherlock is waiting for you and the priest's here".

"Sam?".

"He's waiting outside, he's jumping up and down, he's too excited. And he's keeping the rings extremely close". Molly sat down and took a deep breath. Mary kissed her head, took the bouquet and left. John stared at his friend and smiled, kneeling down beside her. He took her hands and squeezed them.

"You look beautiful" he said. Molly looked quite taken aback by his words but her smile was honest.

"Thank you" she whispered.

"Sherlock's here, Molly. You don't have to worry. He's not running away" he said. "He choose to stay, he choose you. You changed him, Molly, he learned how to accept love because of you".

"I know, it's just...sometimes I think I'm going to wake up and realize I've been living inside a dream" she replied.

"But it's not. He's here, you're here and you're about to get married" he said. She nodded and smiled, getting up. John hugged her tight and when she put her veil down, Mary peered in and told them they were ready.

The orchestra started to play the wedding march and Molly took the arm John was offering her. Sam and Mary were the first to walk down the aisle and when both reached their places, John and Molly reached the backyard and began their long walk down the aisle.

Sherlock almost lost his breath, when he saw her. He didn't know how to react, he had never felt something like that before. His heart was pounding and he felt stupid, for a moment. There he was, in his father's suit, waiting for his woman in front of a priest. He was getting married. It suddenly hit him, he realized just now what he was going to do and how much it was going to affect him. He loved challenges, though, and he was going to enjoy this one.

Molly almost lost her breath as well when she reached Sherlock. John kissed her and gave her away, Sherlock smiling at his friend. John quickly took his place next to him and the priest began the ceremony.

Jennifer promised herself she wouldn't cry, but when Molly and Sherlock took each other's hands, she lost it.

Joe patted his daughter's shoulder and cried with her, wishing his elder grandchild was there with them. She would tell them to stop crying.

Sam jumped towards the aisle and almost tripped. He stayed there, with the rings in his hands, giving them to their owners with a big smile on his face.

When Molly said her vows, Ethan's stomach closed. Even if he knew she was happy with him, he feared for her life.

When Sherlock said his vows, John cried. And he didn't feel ashamed for it.

When Sherlock removed her veil and firmly kissed her, everyone in the room cheered.

"I love you" Molly whispered, her eyes closed.

"And I you, Molly Holmes" he replied, smiling at the sound of her name. Her smile told him she loved the sound of her new name as well.

The atmosphere was cheerful and light at the reception. Molly was talking with John and her family and Sherlock was observing her from afar. She was happy and her smile warmed his heart. He smiled to himself, thinking he really didn't mind making her happy and being happy himself.

"She's really happy". Sherlock turned around and saw Molly's grandfather looking at his granddaughter. Sherlock straightened his position, not knowing how to behave. He never had the chance to talk to him.

"Yes, she is" he replied. Joe took a sip of his drink and coughed a bit.

"I never got the chance to thank you, Mr. Holmes" Joe said and Sherlock blinked. _Thank me?,_ he thought. He didn't expect that. "You made my baby girl happy and I have to thank you for this".

"You don't have to thank me" he said. He really didn't know what to say.

"Oh, I do. I always feared she would grow old alone" he replied and Sherlock listened carefully. Molly rarely talked about her past or childhood and it was something he longed to know. "She's always been a lonely girl. When I took her to the park with her sister, Melissa would go and play with her friends and Molly would simply sit on the grass and play by herself. She was lonely but she didn't mind. She was cheerful but not the kind of person to get married and have kids. Melissa was and that's what she did. At this point, I thought Molly's destiny was marked but you changed it and I have to thank you for this".

Sherlock looked at Molly, briefly, before turning again towards her grandfather.

"Don't mess up, Mr. Holmes. I'm old but if you hurt her, I'm going to hurt you. And I won't be the only one. They're strong, the Hoopers. Don't mess with us" he said, patting his shoulder. Sherlock nodded and smiled, watching the old man leave. _Well, this is going to be an interesting challenge, _he thought, reaching his guests.

John stoop up and coughed, catching everyone's attention. Sherlock and Molly were sitting in the middle of the table and all their friends and family were around them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, attention please" John said, smiling. "We're gathered here today to celebrate – oh, wait, we already did that part". Everyone laughed, even Sherlock.

"Though, seriously, we're here to celebrate an union, the union of Molly and, something I never thought I would say, Sherlock" he said, pointing the glass he was holding to Sherlock.

"Today's the day I never thought I would see and not just because I thought Sherlock was emotionally inactive", another good laugh. "But also because I thought I would never see my friend again". Sherlock stared at him but John was smiling.

"I'm happy for you, guys. I really am. If Sherlock could love someone, well, that's you Molly. You found each other and that's all that matters. To the newlyweds!" he said raising his glass. Everyone did as John did and when John sat down, Mary got up.

"It's my turn to make a toast, now" she said, giving her friends her best smile. "I've known Molly for years, we kind of grew up together. We went to the same school but then we parted and I'm so happy I've found her again. I can see how happy she is when she looks at her husband and I couldn't be more happy for them both. John already said what was needed to be said, I just want to say that I've never seen her so happy. To the newlyweds!".

Molly stood up and went to hug her friend, crying. John leaned towards Sherlock, smiling.

"You didn't hug me after my speech" he pointed out and Sherlock just smiled.

"Dance time!" Sam suddenly said. The little orchestra that Violet had hired began to play a song and Sherlock got up, reaching his wife.

"Can I have this dance, Mrs. Holmes?" he asked. Molly took his hand, a big smile on her face.

"Of course, Mr. Holmes" she said. He led her to the centre of the room where they were having lunch and he took her by the waist, pulling her closer. Their foreheads met and they danced together for a long time. Soon, they were joined by the others and they were forced to part when Sam jumped between them.  
"Can I dance with you, auntie?" he asked. He then turned to face Sherlock. "Can I dance with her, uncle?". It was now official, he was his uncle.

"Of course, Sam" he said, giving him her hand. Molly thanked him with his eyes and took Sam in her arms, dancing with him.

He had to admit it, he had fun that night. The atmosphere was cheerful and he had never seen such happiness fill his old house. For a moment, he remembered how he would have winced at the sight of so many happiness but right now, he really didn't mind.

He looked at his wife talking with her grandfather and a smile escaped from his lips. _My wife, _he thought. It was a word he had used for ages, for cases or something else, but he never thought he would use it for himself.

Sam was eating what was left of the wedding cake and Lestrade was passed out next to him.

"Uncle Sherlock, is he dead?" Sam asked.

"No, he's just sleeping" he replied, smirking. Sam cleaned his hands and gently patted Lestrade's shoulder.

"Wake up, uncle Greg, it's not bedtime yet!" Sam said and Sherlock frowned. _Uncle Greg?  
_"He's not your uncle" Sherlock pointed out and Sam's smirk caught his attention.

"I know but I like to call him like that. He's like...an uncle figure!" he said, happily. He stood up and quickly wrapped his arms around Sherlock's waist. "Don't worry, uncle, you're my favourite and only real uncle, I love you more than anything! I won't replace you, never".

He was caught off by his words but was extremely pleased to hear them. He somehow felt like he had earned that position, to be an uncle, and wanted to keep it. Lestrade suddenly woke up, snorting loudly.

"Where am I?" he asked, confused.

"At my wedding" Sherlock answered, drinking his wine.

"Oh, right. Congratulations" he said before passing out again.

"Is he alright?" Molly asked, appearing next to him. She wrapped her arm around him and Sam quickly ran away, Ethan running after him.

"He's fine, he's just drunk" he replied and kissed her. "You're beautiful".

"Thank you" she replied with a kiss.

"Mmh, I think it's time for us to leave" Sherlock said.

"I agree" Molly replied. In that moment, Sam threw a bucket of water on Lestrade who suddenly woke up. Ethan tried to catch his son but he ran away and hid behind Violet. Sherlock's mother told Ethan it was fine and he went to help Lestrade. Sam was giggling and Violet was patting his head, winking at him.

"She really does love children" Molly said. Sherlock caught a hint of sadness in her voice and quickly hugged her tight.

"And she likes you the way you are" he said. "And I love you". Molly smiled in his embrace, not believing what she was hearing. After the mess was cleaned, Molly tossed her bouquet. Unexpectedly, Sam caught it. As soon as he caught it, he made a disgusted face and tossed it to Mary.

Sherlock and Molly entered in Mycroft's car, who had generously lent it to them.

"To the airport" Sherlock said to the driver.

"Sherlock" Molly said, eyes widening. "Where are we going?".

"Surprise".

* * *

_Is this a cliffhanger? I really don't know hahah  
_

_Well, that's it guys, I'm leaving tomorrow and I'm going to Fraaaance! (PARIS!)  
My parents just told me that we might have internet with us so I'm going to try to update at the end of this week or next week. Can't promise you, though!_

_Thank you so much for your reviews, I love you all so much!_  
_See you next chapter folks! :D_


	21. Pool, Champagne and Valerie

_Hello! I'm back!  
In the end, no internet for me, sniff. I'm sorry I wasn't able to update during these weeks. But I'm back now! :D_

_Your reviews are always so kind and lovely and funny and asdfghjk I just love you guys!_  
_I received a few guest reviews so I'm going to answer here to one that had question!_  
_So, Guest, first of all thank you for reviewing! the Merlin reference was the line "You're threatening me with a spoon?" :) my first language is Italian! and aww thank you for showing me the bunny :D most of all, me, ACD of the future? GAH, that's a huge compliment and I thank you, even if I'm really not as talented as Sir Arthur! (wish I was though!)_

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own BBC's characters but I own my characters. And ACD owns his own character.  
__**A/N:** English is ____not my first language_ and this chapter was not beta'd.

* * *

The sun was surprisingly warm and not too hot. Her legs were resting in the pool and a waiter handed her her cocktail.

"Thank you" she said, smiling.

"My pleasure, Mrs. Holmes" he said, turning around. Molly smiled and drank her cocktail.

They were in New Zealand, Auckland, to be more precise. Molly almost fainted when Sherlock woke her on the air plane to show her where they were landing. He managed to rent a villa near the beach and Molly had spent two entire days doing nothing. Sherlock rarely joined her when she was at the pool or at the beach, he really didn't like those activities. He often disappeared and reappeared for dinner. He never left during the night.

"Is there anything you need?" Sherlock asked, kissing her neck.

"What else could I need? I even have people who bring me cocktails, I never thought I would have such things" she said. He smiled and she noticed that he was wearing his suit. "Where are you going?".

"My mother told me there are some old family friends here, I need to give them something, I'll be right back" he said, buttoning his shirt.

"Would you like me to come with you?" she asked.

"Oh, no, I'm going to save you the pain, they're quite boring and old. Enjoy the sun" he replied and disappeared. Molly twisted her mouth, not sure why. She shrugged and decided not to worry. She put the glass beside her and jumped into the pool. She swam back and forth and when she reached her cocktail, she found it refilled.

* * *

The pool soon lost all its charm and she got bored. She thought getting bored with Sherlock's old friends would have been better. She missed her work, she missed London. She would be enjoying the whole honeymoon better if she actually had her husband with her.

Molly sat on the bed and took her phone. She hadn't phoned someone since they got there. She dialled Mary's number and waited for her friend to pick up.

"Molly! Finally, we were getting worried" Mary said and Molly laughed. "How are you two doing? Lost in your own world, eh?".

"Well, I'm fine, I guess Sherlock's too" she replied and heard John ask Mary what was wrong. She probably was making some serious face.

"Oh, God, please tell me he didn't change his mind and left you" Mary said and suddenly Molly realized she was on speaker-phone.

"Of course he hasn't! He didn't run away, did he, Molly?" John asked.

"No, no, he usually comes home for dinner so I guess he didn't change his mind" she replied.

"So, he's not there with you?" John asked.

"Nope".

"God, I'm going to kill him". Molly laughed. She loved her friends.

"Guys, don't worry, it's fine, I know who I married, I didn't expect him to stay with me 24/7. It's fine, I just wanted to hear from you" she said. She was being honest.

"Well, this is not going to stop me from killing him when you get back" John said.

"You're not going to kill him" Mary answered back.

"I am" John replied.

"No you won't" Mary said and Molly laughed, hugging her pillow. She listened to her friends quarrelling for a while and when she hung up the phone, she fell asleep.

Sherlock came back just before dinner. He knew he had spent too many hours out and thought he would find an angry Molly waiting for him. As soon as he reached the bedroom, he smiled. Molly was still asleep and Sherlock smiled at the sight but then felt a bit guilty. He had to spend more time with her. He sat next to her and she stretched.

"You're back" she almost whispered, her eyes still sleepy.

"Yes. Forgive me, they wouldn't let go of me, especially since they found out I'm married now" he replied caressing her face. Molly smiled.

"It's okay" she said. She caressed his face and noticed something red on his collar. She quickly looked away, not wanting him to deduce what she was doing. She smiled. "I'm quite hungry, though".

"Where would you like to have dinner tonight?" Sherlock asked and Molly's smile grew wider. They always had dinner in different places. The first night they had dinner on their bed, refusing to separate from each other. The second night they had dinner on the rooftop and the night after they ate at the beach.

"I have something in mind" she said, hiding her face in the pillow, laughing at her own idea.

Thirty minutes later, she was eating dinner on an air mattress in the middle of the pool.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" Sherlock asked. He was eating his dinner on a table near the pool.

"Oh, yes! I'm not going to have the chance to do this often, I have to take advantage of this now!" she said happily.

"I could arrange something like this more often, if that's what you'd like" Sherlock said. Molly knew he could.

"No, please, I want an ordinary life" she said and realized what had just come out from her mouth. "I mean, ordinary with you. Not that you're ordinary, you're not, I just...you know, your kind of ordinary...uhm...".

"I got it, Molly" he replied.

"Good" she said, sighing, eating a strawberry. She reached the border and left her plate there and then went back to the centre of the swimming pool. She tested the water and smirked.

"What are you doing?" Sherlock asked. Molly laughed and fell into the water. Sherlock jumped up, scared.

"Are you mad?" he asked when she emerged. "Did you forget all you've learned at school? You could get an indigestion!".

"Stop it, I'm the doctor here. Digestion doesn't start immediately, I have about thirty minutes before it starts and warm water doesn't cause indigestion and this water's temperature is around 23°C, so I'm going to be fine" she replied and Sherlock looked at her with sincere surprise.

"How does it feel, when it's someone else who knows everything?" she asked.

"Mmh, usually bad, but not when it's you" he replied. She reached out for his hand.

"Join me" she said. Sherlock blinked.

"What?".

"Join me! It's warm, it's fun, it's...nice".

"Nicely romantic?".

"If you want to put it that way, then yes. Please".

Sherlock smiled and kicked off his shoes. He removed his belt and when he unbuttoned his shirt, Molly hid her mouth under the water, giggling. He kept his shirt and he knew that just unbuttoning it turned her on. He jumped in the swimming pool and when he emerged, he shook his head, shaking his wet curls.

"Something's telling me you're enjoying this too" she said. He reached her and took her by the waist. She wrapped her legs around him and her arms rested on his shoulders.

"I enjoy everything with you" he replied, kissing her deeply. She returned the kiss, her hands now getting lost in his hair. They both hit the border and Sherlock proceeded to remove her clothes.

"Wait...the waiters...aren't they...around?" she asked, breathing heavily.

"They leave after we get dinner and they come back in the morning, we're alone" he said, kissing her neck. Molly moaned and smiled, ripping his clothes off.

* * *

The next morning, Molly woke up in Sherlock's arms. For a brief moment she had forgotten where she was but last night hit her mind and she smiled.

"Looks like someone's finally awake" he said. Molly turned around and kissed him.

"Mmh, hi. What time is it?" she asked, looking out of the window. The sun was already high in the sky.

"Actually, it's almost lunch time" he replied. Molly's eyes widened.

"Lunch time? You could've woken me up earlier" she said.

"You were sleeping so peacefully, it seemed a crime to interrupt your sleep" he replied.

"Oh, we don't want people to investigate the world's only consulting detective for committing such a crime!" she joked.

"No, we don't" he replied. "Besides, I was quite tired myself, I woke up just two hours ago. I must say, last night tired me". Molly smirked.

"We should do it more often, then, if that's a way to get you to sleep for more than three hours" she said.  
"I completely agree with you" he replied. They got up and after a long shower, they had lunch, in the lunch room this time. Molly tried to convince Sherlock to take her to the beach for a walk but he insisted she should go and enjoy the beach, he preferred quietness. Molly refused to go for a walk alone and stayed with him. Right after their little domestic argument, one of the waiters announced that they had some visitors.

"Visitors?" Sherlock asked, annoyed.

"Yes, an old woman and man. They introduced themselves as the Windsor" the waiter said and Molly froze.

"Windsor? Windsor?!" she asked, looking at Sherlock. He sighed.

"My mother's sister and her husband" he replied, still annoyed.

"Are you in any way related to those Windsor?" Molly asked.

"Which Windsor?" Sherlock asked, confused.

"Which Windsor? Where do you live?" she asked. "The Royal Family!".

"Oh, those Windsor. No, anyway, I'm not related to the Royal Family, even if when my aunt met her my uncle, she believed he was and that's part of why she fell in love with him" he replied.

"Sherly! Sherly! Oh, where's my boy?" a woman's voice said. Molly had to hold her laugh back.

"Sherly?" she asked with a whisper. Sherlock groaned.

"My aunt loved to give nicknames. She still does" he replied.

"What's Mycroft's nickname?".

"Mycry". Molly burst out laughing but she quickly recomposed when the elderly couple entered the room.

"My lovely nephew!" the woman said, throwing her arms around Sherlock. He genuinely returned the hug, even if he was trying to hide his annoyance. "Violet told me you were here and I couldn't resist, I had to see you!".

"It's good to see you, aunt Valerie" he said. His uncle shook his hand warmly, giving him a true smile. "Uncle Simon, you're doing well".

"I am. And so are you, I see" he replied. Valerie landed her eyes on Molly, who was smiling happily.

"Uncle, aunt, may I present you my wife, Molly Holmes" Sherlock said, introducing them. Valerie shook her hand repeatedly.

"It's so good to meet you, Molly" she said.

"My pleasure. It's always nice to meet members of Sherlock's family" she replied and she quickly noted to herself to ask Sherlock why they weren't at their wedding.

Sherlock tried to get rid of them, nicely, but they didn't leave. They stayed for dinner and for once, they went to a restaurant near the beach.

When their plates arrived, Sherlock noticed that Molly's plate had nuts for decoration.

"You can't eat those" he quickly said, taking them and putting them in his plate. His aunt looked at him weirdly. Sherlock noticed it.

"She can't eat them" he said and Valerie nodded. Molly was allergic to nuts and Sherlock thought that his sentence made that clear. It wasn't clear for his aunt.

When Valerie suggested a toast for the newly weds, Sherlock ordered champagne. Five minutes later the waiter handed them four glass full of champagne and after the toast, Valerie noticed how Molly drank little of her champagne.

"Don't you like champagne, dear?" Valerie asked.

"Oh, yes I do, I just don't want to drink too much, that's all" Molly replied. She was never one fond of alcohol.

"Oh, I see" Valerie said, smirking. After dinner, they walked back to the house and Sherlock called a cab for them.

"It's been a lovely day, thank you for having us" Simon said. Molly liked him, he smelled of cuteness.

"It was our pleasure" she replied, kissing him. Valerie greeted them but couldn't stop smiling.

"Is something wrong, aunt?" Sherlock asked and his aunt suddenly let out a big, happy shout.

"Oh, God, sorry, I can't hold this anymore, congratulations!" she cried, hugging them.

"I thought we already did a toast?" Sherlock said, quite confused. He never fully understood his aunt. Not really.

"Yes, for your wedding, not for your baby!" she said.

"Baby?" Molly asked and Simon patted her back.

"Oh, don't deny it, you're pregnant! You know, observing is a family thing. You drank so little champagne at dinner and Sherlock worrying about your food confirmed my deductions!" Valerie said.

"Actually, we-" Molly tried to say but Valerie was over the moon and didn't let her finish. She excused herself and quickly left, Simon joining her and congratulating again to the couple. As soon as the door closed, Molly's laugh filled the room. Sherlock looked at her, confused and worried.

"Why are you laughing?" he asked.

"Your aunt is...strange. And funny, she's so...I don't know, odd" she replied with a laugh.

"This is serious Molly, please" he said. He was clearly disturbed by something and Molly understood what was bothering him.

"I know. It's fine, Sherlock. I was ready for this. It's normal for people to assume that I might be pregnant and even if it's something I'd love to happen, I know it's not going to happen and I've accepted it". She took his hands and squeezed them. "It's fine, for me".

"It's not for me!" Sherlock almost shouted. He didn't mean to be angry, he was just frustrated. "It's not okay for people to remind you what you can't have. I know it makes you unhappy and I hate it when you're sad".

"You have to deal with it, Sherlock. People are always going to ask about children, it's normal, it's part of marriage".

"I don't like this part. It's not fair for you".

"I don't care. I'm happy, Sherlock. I'm happy with you". He kissed her and she smiled between his lips.

"I love you".

"And I you". After a long pause, Molly spoke again.

"Why didn't you invite them to our wedding?".

"They live here in New Zealand and I really didn't want my aunt to mess up everything. She always breaks and messes up something. I wanted our wedding to be a quiet ceremony".

"Fair enough".

* * *

_I love new characters and aunt Valerie was fun to write!_  
_Thank you for reading and I hope to see you in the next chapter too! lots and lots and lots and lots of love :D_

_à bientôt!_


	22. The Wife's Revenge

_I know I keep repeating it, but I love you guys so much and I love your reviews, they make me smile!  
So thank you, thank you and thank you! :)_

_Neeew chapter! I hope you're going to like it :)_

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own BBC's characters but I own my characters. And ACD owns his own character.  
__**A/N:** English is ____not my first language_ and this chapter was not beta'd.

* * *

Their honeymoon was meant to last two weeks but Molly refused to spend another week all by herself. Sherlock kept disappearing and she decided to entertain herself by playing detective. Being married with the world's only consulting detective had its advantages; she had learned how to observe in the past year and now that they were married, she could collect her clues without getting too much suspicious looks from him.

She sat on the bed one night, Sherlock was gone. She looked at a paper she had put on the bed, a paper where she had written all clues she had found.

_Red mark on the collar. Doesn't use the shirt anymore – checked, shirt cleaned but the mark is still a bit visible. Doesn't want me to notice the mark._

_Always takes a shower after coming back. Doesn't want me to smell a particular perfume._

_Hides notes in a drawer that is locked. Doesn't want me to read them._

_Uses his cell phone when he thinks I'm asleep. Doesn't want me to know that he's texting._

She sighed. A normal wife would suspect adultery but she was not a normal wife, nor Sherlock was a normal husband. She had another option and she went for it.

Sherlock came back home late that night, later than all the other nights before. It was around 1 a.m. and Molly was pretending to be asleep. Actually, she wasn't even in bed, she was waiting for him in the dark, in a corner of the bedroom. Sherlock immediately noticed, even if the room was in the dark, that the bed was empty. He turned the light on, looking around.

"It's late" Molly said. Sherlock sighed and smiled.

"What are you doing up so late" he said but Molly's face made his smile die.

"Waiting for my husband to come home. To me" she said.

"What are you trying to say?" he asked.

"You're running away, Sherlock. Every single day, you go away".

"I told you, my mother asked me to do-".

"Stop it, Sherlock, I know you're not going around visiting family friends. You had a mark, on your collar, the other day. You text when you think I'm asleep. You disappear for hours. I know what's going on".

"No, Molly, it's not what you're thinking, let me explain".

"No. Sherlock". Molly approached him, a grave expression on her face. Sherlock didn't know how to interpret it. "I know what's going on". After a long pause where Molly tried to keep her face serious, she let a smile break on her face.

"You're working on a case" she said. Sherlock noticed how calm her voice was.

"Sorry, what?" he asked.

"You're working on a case" she repeated.

"I'm sorry" he said. She took his hands and smiled even bigger.

"You don't have to apologize, Sherlock. You just have to be honest with me" she said.

"I didn't want to upset you".

"I married you because I love you the way you are. I know how you're like. I know that cases are important to you, I know that whenever there's a case, you have to solve it because that's who you are. You help people and you love your job. And I love you because of this". Sherlock realized how lucky he was, to have her in his life.

"And I love you". He kissed her and she wrapped her arms around his neck, letting his arms catch her.

"Promise me you're going to be honest with me, from now on" she said. "Promise me".

"I promise" he replied. "And I don't often make promises". She laughed.

"I have just one question" she said, biting her lip. She trusted him but still, she was curious.

"What is it?" he said, tightening his grip on her.

"A few days ago you had a red mark on your collar. Was it lipstick?" she asked. She felt dumb for a moment, she knew he was loyal but she felt like asking that question. Sherlock frowned.

"How...how did you notice the mark? It was extremely tiny" he said and she blinked. Was this all he had to say? "I have to say, you've become a good observer but not an excellent one. It wasn't lipstick. It was blood". She laughed, feeling embarrassed, and he smiled. "Do you really doubt my intentions with you?".

"No" she replied and she meant it. "I never have and never will".

She kissed him and he needed no proof to confirm her words.

* * *

"Sherlock Holmes, you're unbelievable!" John said. "You're working on cases, without me, on your honeymoon!".

"Don't lecture me, John, I'm a grown-up man" Sherlock said. Molly had told them everything and Sherlock had to bear with it; she wasn't mad at him but that was his punishment.

"No you're not, Mr. Holmes. Molly's a saint, she's not even mad, you're a lucky bastard" John said and Mary scolded him. She took the phone away from him.

"Forgive his manners, Sherlock" Mary said. "I think he's mad at you just because you're solving cases without him".

"Oh, we're going to find many cases to solve together when I get back home" he said. The four of them talked for a while and when the conversation was over, Molly was smirking.

"I bet you're enjoying this" Sherlock said.

"Oh, yes, it was part of my revenge" she replied, resting on the bed.

"Part of your revenge? Does this mean it's not over?" he asked, fearing what she had in mind.

"No. Is your case over? Did you solve it?" she asked.

"Of course I did" he replied but his pride, in that case, was his ruin.

"Good. Tomorrow you're going to spend the entire day with me and you're going to do as I say. Got it?". Sherlock sighed.

"Do I have a choice?".

"No".

Sherlock wished he had told her the truth. Molly was enjoying the situation way too much and Sherlock was more than annoyed. She had forced him to go with her to the beach, to sunbathe and swim with her.

"Mmh, the sun's very warm today, isn't it?" she asked. She was laying on the beach towel.

"I'd rather enjoy it from inside" he replied, snorting. Molly handed him the suntan cream.

"No, you're going to stay with me" she replied and Sherlock approached her, rubbing the cream into her skin.

"When does this end?" he asked. He really didn't like beaches.

"Tonight" she replied smiling. Sherlock groaned and went back to his place, burying himself in the newspaper. She made him swim with her and sunbathe until dinner time, then she decided it was enough and Sherlock collapsed on the bed, exhausted. Being normal was hard.

"Are you going to be honest with me?" Molly asked, crawling next to him.

"Yes" he immediately said, breathing heavily. "I swear I'm going to tell you everything".

"Good for you" she replied and rested her head on his shoulder. They fell asleep and when Sherlock opened his eyes, he found himself on a bench in a cemetery.

He looked around. The place looked familiar, way too familiar and the white gravestones that were surrounding him made him feel peaceful. He felt like something was keeping him there, something was bounding his heart and soul to that place and yet he didn't know what it was.

He almost jumped when Mary sat next to him.

"I knew I would find you here" she said, a tired smile on her face. Sherlock looked at her confused. What was she doing there? And why was she carrying a stroller?

"When John told me you went out, I couldn't believe him. It's good to see you out of that apartment, even if this place is certainly no better place than your apartment" she added, moving the stroller back and forth. Mary looked at him and sighed.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"At peace" he honestly said. He did feel at peace with the world and himself. But why?

"Good. That's a good thing. It's a good start, you'll feel better. We've all been through that phase" she said, trying to brighten her smile.

"What do you mean? Which phase?" he asked.

"You'll understand" Mary said and then the baby in the stroller began to cry. Sherlock found that cry extremely annoying and felt the urge to run away.

"Sssh, Molly, mummy is here" Mary said, rocking the stroller even faster. The baby kept crying and Mary picked her up.

"Why did you name her after my wife?" he asked. He never understood why people named their children after family members or friends, most of the time when these people were still alive.

"You know why. I've always thought that Molly would be the godmother of my children but since she's gone, I've named my daughter after her. It's our way to remember her" Mary said and Sherlock panicked.

"Gone? She's not gone. She's home or at work" he replied and Mary looked at him, a bit surprised.

"I thought you came here to cope with her death better" she said.

"She didn't die!" Sherlock almost shouted. Mary held her daughter close to her chest and got up. She held out her hand and looked at Sherlock straight in the eyes.

"Follow me" she said. Sherlock got up but didn't take hold of her hand. She started to push the stroller towards a gravestone not much far from where they were.

"Here. Look" she said, pointing to a gravestone. Sherlock read the name craved into the stone and almost fainted.

_Molly Hooper-Holmes_

_16__th__ of May 1980 - 15__th__ of March 2015_

_Beloved sister, daughter, wife and friend_

"She died. Five years ago. Remember?" Mary asked. Sherlock turned around and shook his head.

"No, she didn't die, I would remember such a thing!" he yelled.

"You're hiding your memory somewhere in your mind palace. It's there, you were there and you're going to remember it, you just have to accept it!" Mary answered back.

"No I wasn't there because it never happened" Sherlock replied. Mary put Molly back in the stroller and gave Sherlock a grave expression.

"Do as you wish, I just hope you're going to accept her death soon. It's not good for you, keeping this façade up" she said and quickly left. Her form soon melt with the atmosphere and Sherlock took a few steps back.

"She's not dead!" he yelled. "She's not dead!". His sight suddenly went black.

"Sherlock, Sherlock!" someone said. Sherlock woke up and felt the cover of the bed on his bare chest. He looked around and saw Molly look at him with concern in her eyes. Sherlock blinked and looked around. He was in New Zealand. With Molly. He sat up and took deep and long breaths.

"Are you alright?" she asked. He nodded.

"Yes. I'm fine" he replied. He realized he was sweating.

"You didn't sound alright. You were almost shouting about a woman not being dead" she said, caressing his face.

"Was I?" he asked and she nodded. He saw it in her eyes, she was scared. "I'm sorry. It was part of the case I solved these past days. I'm just tired, I didn't mean to wake you up and scare you".

"It's okay, don't worry. I'm sorry, it must have been also because I've tired you up yesterday" she said, kissing his cheek.

"It wasn't your fault" he said, taking her in his arms. She rested her head on his chest and he firmly wrapped his arms around her. "I love you". Molly smiled.

"And I you, Sherlock".

He closed his eyes and memorized her presence near to him. She was there with him and that was his reality.

* * *

They enjoyed the rest of the week together. Sherlock ran off to solve a small case just once and then spent his days near her, not joining her in her activities, though.

They took the plane to get back home and Molly asked him to take a normal air plane. She loved private air planes but she wanted to go home normally.

"I really don't like planes" Sherlock said, shooting a glance to a guy who kept looking at him.

"Oh come on, bear with them" Molly replied, laughing. She cuddled in his arms and waited for the plane to take off.

"We can still get off and take our private jet" he suggested.

"Nope" she replied and Sherlock snorted. He had to bear with people's curios eyes for the entire flight and when they landed in London, he dragged his wife away from the chaos. He almost forgot to take the bags.

"Home sweet home" Molly said half an hour later. She dropped her bag on the floor and stretched.

"I thought you would rather stay in New Zealand" Sherlock said.

"Mmh, no. I love London, nothing's better than home" she replied, smiling. Sherlock returned the smile. _Home. _They were home.

* * *

_So, Sherlock was just working on a case!  
I don't have much to say, just thank you for reading! :D  
_


	23. Nightmares

_Yup. I'm alive. And I'm terribly sorry guys.  
The past month has been crazy for me with work and private things so I hope you can forgive my absence.  
I feel terrible, the last time I updated was more than a month ago! Gosh, forgive me!  
_

_Anyway, I love guests who come back and review :) so I'm going to reply here, again, to the Guest who came back and reviewed!  
Guest: Thank you so much, I love how you keep encouraging me! Yep, I'm a Merlinian! :D And actually, I'd love to become a professional author, who knows, maybe I'll become one, maybe not ... at least, whatever happens, I still got you guys :) thank you for your compliments, ILOVEYOU!  
_

_Thank you all for your reviews, I love you all so much - enjoy this new chapter!_

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own BBC's characters but I own my characters. And ACD owns his own character.  
__**A/N:** English is ____not my first language_ and this chapter was not beta'd.

* * *

When they came back, they had little time for themselves. Sherlock was already running around London with John solving cases and Molly couldn't wait to go back to work. She knew she was going to have a lot to do since she had been replaced by the new pathologist, Maggie. She was fine but she still didn't know what to do.

For three days they had barely seen each other and when Sherlock came back home from a hard case and thought about finally spending some time with his wife, he found her too busy for his attentions.

"What are you doing?" he asked when he came home. Molly was sitting near the table with her glasses on, reading something on her computer and noting something down on a paper.

"I'm organizing John's birthday!" she said, crossing a name on her list.

"John's birthday?" Sherlock asked and then he remembered. It was August and his friend's birthday was just four days away.

"Yes. Did you forget it?" Molly asked, raising her eyes from the computer. Sherlock's chest suddenly straightened up.

"Of course not. I had temporarily removed the information from my mind, but I knew it" he replied.

"You know, that usually means forgetting things" she pointed out, smiling.

"Not for me" he said and she laughed, getting back to her work. Sherlock sat down on the couch and observed his wife. She was putting too much effort into her research and he didn't like it.

"Shouldn't Mary organize her boyfriend's party?" he then asked.

"She asked me to help her, she doesn't want John to know" she said and turned around, pointing her pen to Sherlock. "Not a word about this to John, understood? We're organizing a surprise party".

"You have my word but I don't get it, what's the point in organizing a surprise party, they're so easily deducible by the organizers' behaviour" he said, sighing.

"John's not you, he won't deduce it" she replied. Sherlock smiled. He got up and when he reached her, he closed her laptop.

"Hey!" Molly shouted, annoyed. "I'm working here! You can't just shut down my computer like that".

"It's late, I think you should take a break" he said, smirking. Molly smiled back but opened her laptop again.

"Nope. I have to organize this party in four days, have you any idea how much there is to do?" she answered back. Sherlock frowned.

"But you have to sleep" he said and Molly shot him a funny look.

"You're telling me to sleep?" she asked. "You never sleep!".

"I'm used to it, you're going back to work tomorrow, you need to rest" he exclaimed.

"I know how to manage myself, thank you very much" she said. She was getting slightly annoyed by Sherlock's behaviour.

"I'm not doubting it but I insist, Molly, you have to sleep" he said and Molly snorted.

"Sherlock! Please, I just have to finish some things, stop telling me what to do" she almost shouted. Sherlock backed a bit, not knowing what to say.

"Are we arguing now?" he asked. Molly sighed heavily and threw her glasses on the table.

"We're just quarrelling, Sherlock. It's quite normal" she replied. Sherlock didn't answer, he just stared at her, trying to figure out what to do. They stared at each other for a while when his phone suddenly rang up. He took it and as he read the text message, he grabbed his coat and turned around, heading towards the door.

"Where are you going now?" she asked.

"New case. Don't stay up and wait for me" he said and quickly disappeared. Molly waited for the door to open again and for Sherlock to come back and apologize but he didn't return. She shook her head, feeling sad. He had a lot to learn.

Sherlock reached the bar at the end of the street quite quickly. As he waited for his friend to come, he ordered a drink and started to analyse the customers. Lawyer. Doctor. Teacher. Producer. Some with lovers, some trying to save their marriage. One wanted to buy a dog.

"What happened?" John asked. He sat down and watched his friend, anxious. He was breathing heavily and Sherlock deduced that he had probably run. It was pretty obvious, actually.

"Nothing happened" he replied, taking a sip of his drink.

"What do you mean? Is the case already over?" John asked. Sherlock twisted his nose and coughed.

"There's no case" he said.

"What? You texted me to come here because there was a new case, an important one" John pointed out.

"I had to write you that in order to get you here quickly, I know you wouldn't have come here if I had told you the real reason" Sherlock replied. John's mouth dropped open as he tried not to get angry. He was used to this behaviour, after all.

"Okay, what is that?" John asked, crossing his arms. Sherlock didn't answer and John waited a bit before talking again. "Sherlock. What happened?".

"Molly and I had a fight" he finally answered. John frowned.

"Okay?" he said. "And?".

"And I didn't know what to do so I asked you to come here" Sherlock replied. He knew that John was slow in connecting the information together and he just hoped he was slower that night. He wasn't.

"So...you had a fight with Molly and when I texted you just to remind you to bring me back my notebook tomorrow, you took advantage of it and pretended to have a new case just to walk away?" John asked. Sherlock blinked, quite surprised.

"I didn't think you would actually get it" he answered.

"What...Sherlock, you can't just walk away from your wife like that! What did you fight about?".

"I can't tell you".

"Why not?".

"It doesn't matter, anyway, what we were fighting about".

"It does, Sherlock, it does to her. Tell me".

"She was working on her computer and I told her to go to sleep because she has to work tomorrow, she wanted to stay up and I insisted and that's why we fought". _More or less_, Sherlock thought.

"If she doesn't want to go to bed then you shouldn't force her, she's a grown-up woman, Sherlock, she knows what to do" John replied.

"I know" Sherlock answered back, coldly. He took his glass again but found it empty and threw it back on the table, annoyed.

"This wasn't your first fight, you had fights before, why did you run away?" John asked.

"I..." Sherlock started and snorted. He didn't like these kind of conversations.

"Sherlock" John said and he sighed.

"We're married, something's bounding us now. I'm bound to her. Before, it was just the two of us. It feels like if we fight now, we break something of our relationship. It didn't feel like this before" Sherlock admitted. John smiled and almost let a laugh escape from his mouth.

"It's still just the two of you, mate. Marriage bounds you legally, it doesn't change your relationship or your feelings. Go back home and fix things up" John said, getting up. He patted his friend's shoulder and walked away. "And don't you dare text me again for something like this".

Sherlock didn't leave the bar for the next thirty minutes. He didn't know what to do. Actually, he knew what he had to do but he didn't know how to apologize. He still wasn't comfortable in doing that.

He locked himself in his mind palace, paid the drink and as he walked back home, he prepared his little apologetic speech in his mind. His hand stopped on the knob and after a few moments, he opened the door and found his wife sleeping on the couch.

"Molly?" he called her but her sleep was deep, she didn't hear him. He reached her and caressed her face. A smile appeared on her face but when her eyes focused on the person before her, the smile fell.

"I thought you were still up" Sherlock said, almost whispered. Molly sat up, her eyes trying to stay cold and distant.

"I did as you said. I didn't stay up and wait for you" she said.

"Molly, listen..." he started but no more words came out from his mouth. Molly stared at him and when she noticed how he wasn't able to talk, she got up and walked past him.

"No, wait" he said and gently grabbed her arm, stopping her. She turned around and sighed, annoyed.

"What, Sherlock?" she asked.

"I...I didn't have a case. I ran off" he replied. Her face showed how hurt she felt.

"So you pretended to have a new case just to walk away and avoid solving things?". He nodded. "Good. That's very not good, Sherlock".

"That's what John says".

"I know, he told me to tell you this in order to get you to understand things better".

"Oh".

"If you run away for things like this, Sherlock, you're definitely going to run away when things get worst".

"Why should things get worst?".

"They always get worst. It's life, something bad might happen and it's likely to happen since it looks like we lure bad things to us".

"I won't run away".

"I know. I trust you, Sherlock, I really do but you can't keep doing this. You have to stop and face your problems. Running away isn't the answer". He suddenly kissed her and didn't let go of her for quite a while and obviously she didn't step back but kissed him back.

"I'm sorry. I really am. I had a great apologetic speech in my mind but it looks like it doesn't want to leave my mind palace" he replied and Molly genuinely laughed. "Can you forgive me?".

"Of course I forgive you. I always do" she replied and wrapped her arms around his neck. He inhaled her scent and something suddenly crossed his mind. _I always do, _she said. He knew she would always forgive him but he feared that if he did something extremely wrong, she wouldn't forgive him and would leave him for good. He realized that he didn't want her to be gone. He had to keep her close.

* * *

Dark was surrounding them and Molly was peacefully sleeping on his chest. His hand was travelling up and down her spine and Sherlock was enjoying the moment. Sometimes, peace was all he needed to share with his wife.

A small noise suddenly alerted him. He sat up and accidentally woke Molly up.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her eyes still sleepy.

"We're not alone" Sherlock said and slipped out of bed. He opened the drawer and took out a gun.

"Sherlock..." Molly said, hiding under the covers. She was scared. "What's going on?".

"Ssh" he said. Molly nodded and got up as well. She hid behind Sherlock and held her breath.

It was all quick. Sherlock jumped into the living room and began shooting. The man hiding in the dark room avoided the shots and Sherlock felt something hard hit his neck. He fell, his sight becoming blur. More shots, cries and then he saw blood cover the pavement. His eyes met Molly's and he heard the men run away. Silence again.

"Molly..." he whispered. She was lying on the ground, blood all over her. Her blood. He lowered his gaze and his eyes stopped on the holes on her body. "No...".

"Sher-Sherlock..." she said and reached out for his hand. He crawled next to her and slipped his hands under her body, lifting it up. His hands were red and he couldn't stop blood from flowing out from her body.

"N-no...please, Molly...no" he said. She smiled.

"I love you" she said and her voice broke. He held her close and cried for help but no one came. He was alone. They were alone. He kissed her one last time and her head fell. Dead.

"No! Molly, please, no!" he cried but she didn't wake up.

"NO!".

Sherlock sat up, sweating. He looked around and noticed it was late, the night had just begun. A hand rested on his shoulder and he turned around, scared. He was never scared but this time he was and he wasn't afraid of showing it.

"Sherlock, what's wrong?" Molly asked. Sherlock blinked a few times and his hand immediately rested on her face. She put her hand on his and waited for him to speak.

"You're here..." he said. "You're alive".

"Of course I am, Sherlock. Why wouldn't I be?" she asked. He shut his eyes and tried to remove the image of her dead body from his mind. He buried his face in his hands and Molly wrapped her arm around his shoulders. She wasn't used to this. She knew Sherlock didn't like to show his emotions and she knew how to manage him when he was angry but he never saw him this scared.

"Sherlock. Please, look at me" she said and she jumped when they eyes met. All she could see was fear and there was no sign of the secure detective she used to know. "What's wrong?".

"I...I can't..." he said and took deep breaths. He tried to control his emotions but eventually failed.

"God, Sherlock. What happened? I've never seen you this...scared" she said. He suddenly hugged her tight and didn't let go of her for quite a while. Neither did he talk. She waited, waited for him to calm down.

"Please, don't tell me it's nothing because something's obviously bothering you" she said when she felt his breaths go back to regular. He shook his head.

"I had another dream" he said. Molly took a few moments to elaborate the sentence.

"Another? What d'you mean?" she asked. He took another few deep breaths before talking.

"It was...it was a nightmare. And it wasn't the first" he said.

"You never talked about it before" she said.

"They weren't this bad" he admitted. He rested on his pillow and Molly laid next to him.

"Tell me about them" she begged.

"They're not the same. No, I mean, they are the same but the actions change every time. I dreamt...about you...being dead" he began and Molly didn't stop him for questions. "The first time I dreamt about John telling me to move on, to let you go because you were dead. Then I dreamt Mary and she told me the same things. They all told me to let you go because you were dead but they were just bad dreams. Tonight I dreamt about your death. You were hurt and died in my arms...it felt so real".

"They were just dreams, Sherlock. I'm here. I'm very much alive, as you can see" she replied.

"But what if what I dreamt is foreshadowing? There are always going to be people ready to kill me and what I most hold dear, what if being with me is just going to get you killed?" he said.

"We've already talked about this and I don't want to go there again. I know the risk I'm taking by staying with you and honestly I don't think you're that dangerous. You're different from the others, I know, but I'm safe with you" she replied.

"I don't want anything to happen to you" he said. She kissed him sweetly and gave him a warm smile.

"You don't have to worry. Life's unfair and unpredictable and as long as I can, I can promise you that I won't leave you" she said. He nodded and talked no more. He buried his face into her arms and she rocked him until he finally fell asleep. That night, the nightmares didn't bother him.

* * *

_Poor Sherlock :(  
Bad dreams are just the worst..  
_

_I'm not going to promise you a quick update but I won't update again in a month - that, I can promise you.  
I'll try my best to update as soon as I can and I hope you're still going to stick with me and this story? Maybe? _

_Love you all, wonderful readers!_


	24. From Worst to Best

_Iloveyou._

_Thank you for reviewing, I was actually scared that none of you would review after one month of absence! So, thank you a lot guys!  
This new chapter focuses more on John, I had this idea in mind for quite a while and I liked the idea to focus on John, at least for one chapter :)_

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own BBC's characters but I own my characters. And ACD owns his own character.  
__**A/N:** English is ____not my first language_ and this chapter was not beta'd.

* * *

Sherlock decided to lock himself out from the world for the next three days. He didn't want to leave and stay away from his wife, he wanted to be with her and he wanted to make sure he wasn't dreaming his whole life. He was being honest with Molly, he knew he had to if he didn't want to lose her again but he decided that she didn't have to know all his thoughts. He was scared, scared that he had been dreaming this whole life and he feared that if he woke up, Molly wouldn't be there with him.

He helped her with John's birthday party and Molly was more than happy to have him following her around. It was pretty unusual, it was always other people who followed the detective around and him chasing her like a puppy made her feel quite spacial.

"Okay, we've booked the room, we hired a band, organized the food and called the caterer and most importantly, we've got the cake! And decorations. I think that's all" Molly said, looking again at her list.

"That's good" Sherlock said, throwing himself on the couch. He was exhausted, being normal was really hard for him.

"The only thing left is...John's present" Molly said, happily. Sherlock looked at her and frowned.

"Isn't this surprise party his gift?" Sherlock asked.

"No. The party is just...well, you know, a party! We're going to give him presents, too" she replied and then looked at her husband. "You didn't think of anything, did you?". He smirked.

"Actually, I did" he replied.

"Really?" she asked, surprised. "What is it?".

"Oh, you're going to see".  
"I'm not John, you can tell me and I'm obviously not going to tell him!".

"Still, you're going to see it tomorrow evening".

"Fine".

She threw her notebook on the table and stretched.

"Mmh. I think I'm going to bed" she said, a yawn escaping from her mouth. "Are you joining me?".

"Not yet, I have some things to do" he said, getting up and reaching for his violin. Molly looked at him, a worried expression on her face. Sherlock obviously noticed and quickly reached her to give her a sweet kiss and a warm smile.

"Don't worry, I haven't had the nightmares these last days. I'm fine now" he said.

"I know, it's just...I don't want you to have them again. I hate it when you're so troubled" she replied, wrapping her arms around his body. He rested his free hand on her back and he started to make circles along her spine.

"I promise you I'm fine. There's no need to worry" he replied and he felt her mouth breathe a soft laugh.

"Alright then. I'll go" she said. Getting on her tiptoes, she pressed a goodnight kiss on her husband's lips and quickly turned on her heel. She stopped dead in her tracks shortly after.

"The plan! We haven't revised our plan!" she exclaimed.

"The plan?" Sherlock asked, smiling. He liked plans.

"I can't believe I forgot to tell you!" she said and jumped on the sofa with her notebook. Sherlock sat down next to her and waited for the plan to be revealed.

"Tell me now" he asked.

"Okay, here's the plan" Molly started and within ten minutes Sherlock knew exactly what he had to do the day after. It was an easy plan, after all.

* * *

John was never one to looked for attentions. He was a private man and he liked to have people around him because they liked him and not because he looked for them. He never asked for something, he didn't care about receiving presents – apart in festivity such as Christmas where everyone was more than happy to give him something. That day, though, he wished he actually didn't care because beneath it all, he did care.

It was early in the morning when Mary woke him up.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty!" she said, kissing him on the cheek. John smiled but then noticed that his girlfriend was already dressed.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"My boss called me. He urgently needs me, there's a case he's working on which requires my knowledge as well" she said. John snorted. He loved to have a lawyer as a girlfriend but these morning calls were annoying him. Did her boss really need her that day?

"What about breakfast?" he asked.

"Oh I'm sorry dear, we're not going to have breakfast together today. I prepared you tea, though!" she said and took her bag. "I'll call you later, bye!".

She disappeared as quick as dust and John sighed. _She forgot, _he thought. He shook his head and got up. He didn't care, his relationship wasn't going to end just because his girlfriend forgot about his birthday. He heard footsteps from upstairs and reckoned that Sherlock and Molly were already up. He had his breakfast and then got ready. _New day, new case!_, he thought.

"Good morning, John!" Mrs. Hudson greeted him when he closed his apartment's door.

"Good morning, Mrs. Hudson. How are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm very good today. And you?" she asked.

"Me? Good, good" he replied. He waited for her to start the conversation again.

"It looks like today's a lovely day, isn't it?" she asked.

"Well, for me it looks like any other day" he said.

"Well then, I'm going to leave you to your day, my sister's in town today and I have to meet her in ten minutes!" she replied and disappeared behind her door. John frowned.

"Are you ready?" Sherlock asked. John looked up and saw his friend run down the stairs.

"As I always am" John replied. Molly was running right behind Sherlock and she was looking for something in her purse. She looked troubled.

"Is everything okay, Molly?" John asked.

"Maggie, the new pathologist, messed things up last night and I have to get there and clean things up before the boss comes in and fires her" she replied. "Poor girl, it'd be terrible to get fired after just a month of work!".

"That'd be terrible indeed" John replied.

"I'm going. I'll see you around then" Molly said. She quickly kissed Sherlock goodbye. "I'll text you later, I'm not sure I'm going to be around for dinner tonight".

"Don't worry, go and save your girl" he replied and Molly too disappeared.

"Ready?" Sherlock asked again.

"Yep. Do we have a case already?" John asked.

"Oh, yes, a very big and complicated one!" Sherlock said, jumping up and down on their way to the main door. "Lestrade is waiting for us in his office, he's going to give us the files".

"Good, that's...good" John replied.

"It's more than good! I haven't seen a case like this in years, it's like an early birthday present!" Sherlock said.

"Yeah, right. Birthday" John said, smiling.

"Sorry, what?" Sherlock asked as he stopped a cab with his right arm.

"Nothing. Let's go" John said. He didn't expect Sherlock to remember that today was actually his birthday. _I don't care, as long as I'm alive, I'm happy!_, John thought.

* * *

"Do you think he suspects something?" Mary asked. She was sitting in her office and Molly was standing right in front of her.

"I don't think so. I think that maybe he's going to ask himself why no one wished him a happy birthday but he's not going to think about it all day" Molly replied. "Besides, Sherlock is going to keep him very busy with this fake case he's come up with. Don't worry, everything's going to be perfect!".

"I hope so" Mary said. One of her colleagues suddenly knocked on her door.

"Mary, Mr. O'Connor is here" she said.

"Thank you Linda, I'll be there in a minute" Mary said. Molly took her bag and smiled.

"I'm going to leave you to your work" she said. Mary hugged her tight and returned the smile.

"I'll see you tonight at 7 o'clock!" Mary said and Molly kissed her on the cheek, waving goodbye.

* * *

Sherlock did as Molly told him. He took John around for the entire day, making him believe he was solving a case. Sherlock had to admit it, he was having a lot of fun and he was pretty pleased with himself. The case he had invented was complicated and intense – for those who had to investigate it, of course. He found it quite simple, something he could easily solve but for the others it was madness. John, in fact, was exhausted.

"Sherlock, there's no way I'm going to Nebraska today" John said, slipping in a chair. They were taking a break in a bar and Sherlock was so caught up in his own case that he mentioned that going to Nebraska – the motherland of the main suspect – would simplify the information they had.

"I was just suggesting it, John. Anyway, there's no time for trips, we have to solve the case with what we have" Sherlock said.

"Tomorrow? Please" John said. Sherlock frowned and quickly looked at his wrist watch. It was 5 p.m.. Too early.

"Tomorrow? John, what we have is a rare case! Who knows when we're going to see another one like this! We can't possibly stop our researches now" Sherlock said.

"You took three days of vacation from our job! You're just anxious to go back to work. I need to sleep, Sherlock, and eat and see my girlfriend and my friends and relax and do nothing, at least for today!" John almost yelled. Sherlock noticed how visibly stressed his friend was and John actually didn't mind showing it. He never did but today he wanted to be the centre of everyone's attention.

"Alright then. Finish your tea, we're going home" Sherlock said. They were far from Baker Street and Molly asked him to bring him home around 6 p.m., they were a bit early but they way home was long.

Thirty minutes later John was sitting on his couch, trying to forget the day. He had better birthdays.

"I asked you to bring him home around six!" Molly whispered to Sherlock. They were both upstairs and Molly was quite surprised when Sherlock entered home.

"I tried my best but he was exhausted. Besides, we're just thirty minutes early. Is everything okay?" Sherlock asked.

"Yes, yes. Well, take him out around 6.30 p.m., got it? I'm going to leave now, Mary's coming home after six. Then we should be okay" Molly said and Sherlock gently kissed her on the top of her head.

"You're an amazing organizer, you know?" he said.

"Thank you, husband" she said, kissing him full on the mouth. He slipped his hands on her waist and pulled her closer. Molly let him take control for a while but then stopped him.

"I'll see you later" she said and ran away. Sherlock sighed and threw himself on the couch, almost squashing Toby.

* * *

"You're home!" John said when Mary opened the door.

"Oh, yes, but just for a few minutes, I've got to change myself for dinner" she said.

"Dinner?" John asked, feeling desperate.

"I forgot I had dinner with my colleagues tonight" she said and when she noticed John's jealous look, she laughed. "Don't worry, honey, it's a business dinner".

"Can't you say you're feeling sick? I'd like to spend the rest of the day with you" he begged.

"No way, it's too important" she said. He didn't have time to beg her once again, within five minutes she was already gone. John was feeling miserable and when Sherlock knocked on the door, he almost shouted.

"What?" he asked.

"Get ready, we're going out" Sherlock said. John grabbed his jacket and locked the door.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"Dinner, we can talk about the case while you're eating" Sherlock said and John almost hated him for ruining his birthday like this. Almost.

The cab took him somewhere far from Baker Street, he didn't know that area. When John pointed out that there were no restaurants around, Sherlock told him that before dinner they had to check a location.

"It never ends" John said, entering the dark room. He looked around and saw nothing. "So? What are we looking for?".

Lights suddenly turned on and John's heart skipped a beat. For a moment, he thought he was dead. But when he heard his friends shout "Surprise!", his heart started racing.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked. Mary suddenly appeared in front of him and kissed him.

"Do you really think we could all forget your birthday?" she asked.

"Well...yeah!" he replied and everyone laughed. John spent the next hour greeting old and new friends, thanking them and eating. He was having fun and suddenly his day didn't seem that bad.

"You let yourself get involved with this" John asked Sherlock.

"I had to" he replied and John laughed, drinking his wine. He kept smiling and laughing when suddenly he looked back at Sherlock.

"You! You made things up, there was no case! You just...invented everything!" he said.

"It took you a while, this time. Slow as always" he said and patted his shoulder.

"Time for your presents, John!" Mary suddenly said. John shook his head, begging everyone to keep their presents but of course they all insisted in giving them to him.

He received nice things; two books, a DVD he had been looking for for ages, a leather jacket, a pocket watch and a wallet.

"Thank you, thank you all, really, this was nice" John said, putting the last gift he had received with the others.

"There's one present left" Sherlock said handing him a little box. John looked quite surprised. "Happy birthday, John".

John didn't know what to expect. Sherlock looked sincere and he wasn't the kind of guy to give presents. He ripped the wrapping away and carefully opened the box. This time he was sure, his heart did stop for a moment.

"Sherlock..." John said but couldn't manage to speak other words. All his friends' eyes were on him and when he raised his new gift, he heard everyone's "awws" and "oohs".

John's fingers were holding his brand new medal. The ribbon was white with a purple stripe crossing it in the middle and at the end of it there was a silver cross. John was crying and he wasn't ashamed of it.

"I thought it would fit well for your birthday present. It's a-" Sherlock began but John interrupted him.

"- a Military Cross, 46 mm high and 44 mm wide, third-level military decoration. It's given to those who served in the British Army as a recognition of their hard work during the war" John completed. He looked straight into his friend's eyes. Sherlock was smiling.

"Quite right. I asked your past...colleagues, why you were never awarded with a decoration and they told me that when you were shot, you were proclaimed dead. After a few months they were told you had lived but had lost contact with you and couldn't give you the decoration. So I went there and took it myself for you" Sherlock explained.

"A dead person cannot be awarded a Military Cross" John said, smiling to himself. No one quite understood what he meant. Sherlock did.

John wiped away some tears and smiled. The worst birthday suddenly became the best birthday of his entire life. He doubted he would have a better one in the future. He got up and hugged Sherlock. Sherlock wasn't ready for this but still, he tried his best and hugged his friend back.

"Thank you, my friend" John said. Sherlock tried to hide his smile but failed.

"Cake!" Mary said after a few moments. John laughed and reached his girlfriend, ready to cut the cake, as everyone was asking him to. Molly appeared behind Sherlock and wrapped her arms around his.

"That was good, Sherlock. That was..." she said, smiling. She had tears in her eyes. "...that was very good".

"So it looks like I finally did something very good" he said, kissing her forehead. She laughed and kissed him.

"That's why I love you" she said. Sherlock smiled again and realized that smiling was in fact kind of...nice.

* * *

_Some of you actually thought about it but don't worry guys - Molly is alive and Sherlock isn't dreaming about his past life!  
_

_I'm not a military expert so I did my research and I hope I did everything (or at least most of it) right.  
Anyway, what John says - "A dead person cannot be awarded a Military Cross" - is an actual quote. During World War II, Captain Sam Manekshaw was injured during the battle and Major General Cowan, thinking he would die as he was gravely injured, pinned his Military Cross on Manekshaw saying "A dead person cannot be awarded a Military Cross". I liked this quote so much and I thought it would be nice to put it in here. (source: well, wikipedia!)_


End file.
